Primary Colors
by Cyberweasel89
Summary: Blair "Red Bones" O'Hanrahan is an ordinary college student studying culinary arts in New York. Otaku, gamer, ginger, chef, glutton, and nude model. After departing the latter, she runs into a burning building to save a trapped woman, and doesn't make it out. Blair soon finds herself thrust into a world where everyone is a foodie. Rated mostly for nudity and Blair's potty mouth.
1. Prologue: Trinity

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Toriko. Toriko belongs to a mangaka of ambiguous sexuality and Shounen Jump.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Toriko

Primary Colors

By _Cyberweasel89_

**Prologue: **Trinity

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Warning you, rating is primarily for language. The main character has quite a potty mouth, and it even comes across in her third-person limited narrations. You've been warned, ya fucks.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Ow! What the fuck, bitch!"

She cracked her knuckles, staring down at the miserable guy on the floor.

"Touch my ass again and you'll get more than a knuckle sandwich!"

Of course, her manager ran over, a big black bald guy with an ever-present pair of shades and a cauliflower ear. "Red Bones! Did you just punch out a customer? Again?!"

She turned to face him, her head of long, frizzy red hair flowing around her. "Of course I did! This club has a strict no-touching policy!"

"Yes, but if they touch you, you're supposed to get me, not act out on your own!"

Of course, the spectacle had drawn the attention of both the other customers and her fellow employees, girls getting off the poles to watch.

"You expect me to run and tattle when some jackass cops a feel?"

"Yes! That's it, Red Bones! You're fired!"

"Good riddance! You're all assholes!" she growled, stomping off to the backroom to change out of her ridiculous red bikini costume and get dressed.

With a sigh, Blair O'Hanrahan left Shooters, fired from the strip club she was using to pay her way through college. Pulling her coat around herself in the frigid air of January third, she slung her messenger back over her shoulder and was about to head back to her student apartment, when a man approached her. Middle-aged, balding, and with a mustache.

"Blair O'Hanrahan?" he asked.

The college student reached for her mace hanging from her keychain. "Who wants to fucking know?"

"Are you an employee of Shooters?

"

"Not anymore. Why?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at the man.

"I'm Lance, and I'm a professor at the college. How would you like a new job, one where you can still take your clothes off for money, but not for sexual reasons?"

"Look, you have two minutes to stop being a goddamn creeper before I grab your fucking balls and squeeze them until they burst." she stated calmly.

Unphased, the man continued. "I'm offering you the chance to model nude for my human anatomy sketching class."

Seriously? "What's the pay?"

"A hundred dollars per session, for about two hours three days a week, as well as a break on your tuition."

"Really? Tuition?"

"Yes. This job is exclusively for students of the college, and is officially sanctioned by the dean as an on-campus student job."

"Okay... But why me?"

"Well, for one, I know you're okay being naked in front of others from your job. Or, rather, previous job. But second, I like to have my students study and sketch men and women with unusual anatomy. Anorexic girls for the bone structure, overweight girls for the curves. You, on the other hand, would present a very nice study case for full-body freckles."

Blair raised a crimson eyebrow at that. "Fuckin' seriously?"

"Yes! Anyway, just think about it. Give me a call if you want to take me up on it. You could be earning three hundred dollars for six hours a week. Here's my card."

The professor, who Blair suddenly realized she'd seen walking the halls of the college before, seemingly produced a business card from thin air, handing it to her.

"How the fuck did you do that?" she asked, taking it and putting it in her coat pocket.

"I'm an amateur magician. Call it a hobby. Anyway, I should get back to my office. You get home safe, Miss O'Hanrahan."

The art professor left, leaving Blair confused. Shrugging, she made her way to the bus stop and rode it to her student apartment.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Blair shared her student apartment with two other college students.

"Reddy's home!"

She was promptly scooped up and hugged to death by a much taller male student with dyed blue hair. A girl with long blonde hair and glasses, a golden ribbon in her hair, sat on the sofa playing Call of Duty, merely glancing at her returning roommate with a wave and small smile.

The blonde girl standing at 5'6" was Freya Bronwen, and she was majoring in engineering with a minor in neurology (go figure). At first, Blair didn't like her since, at a 40DDD, she was two cup sizes bigger than Blair's own 32D, but the girl was so quiet and shy, that Blair couldn't help feeling the need to both protect and tease her. Supposedly, she was half Swedish and half Cherokee, explaining her dark skin but blonde hair and blue eyes.

The boy with dyed blue hair, meticulously styled into an upright mess of spikes with five pounds of hair gel, and standing at 6'0" was Tobi Takachiho. Of Japanese ancestry but born and raised right here in New York, he was, like all three of them, an otaku and gamer, though he was majoring in medicine and minoring in psychology, aiming to be a doctor of both body and mind. Normally, Blair would object to rooming with a guy her age, twenty-one, but luckily for both his female roommates, he was flamingly homosexual. Kind of a shame, to Blair. She could get lost in those brown eyes, like dark pools...

Blair O'Hanrahan was a ginger. A mixture of half Irish and half Scottish, Blair was only barely a citizen of the United States, having been born in an American military base in Panama to a mother and father both serving on active duty at that base at the time. Both her parents were soldiers still on active duty, and they certainly passed onto their daughter their fighting spirit. With flaming red hair, green eyes, and full body freckles, she stood at a measly 5'0" tall, but made up for her tiny size with a sizable ass and chest. Nicknamed the "ginger glutton" by her two roommates, she was known for packing away more food than her tiny body could seemingly hold, and was actually majoring in the culinary arts and minoring in English. She planned to become a chef, and hopefully also a food critic using her English degree.

You'd think that the anime and manga Toriko would be right up her alley, but considering the long list of anime and manga her roommates and her still had to watch, it was pretty far down the list.

"Take it off or I'll break it off." Blair growled as Tobi squeezed the life out of her.

The fruit (and Blair used that term affectionately for her male roommate) reluctantly set her down, a big smile on his face of fresh make up. That damn guyliner... You wouldn't catch Blair dead in that shit.

"How was your day, sweetie?"

"Ugh. It's a long story. Just direct me to the damn kitchen so I can let loose my frustration." Blair grumbled, shedding her coat and pulling her Aperture Science T-shirt over her head.

"Um... N-No meat in mine, please?" a tiny voice came from the couch, barely audible over the sound of gunfire and explosions from Call of Duty: Ghosts. Vegetarians. Blair just couldn't figure them out.

When the ginger reached the kitchen, she was wearing only a bright red sports bra and a pair of matching red boyshorts. When you shared an apartment with a girl and a gay guy, there were certain privileges. Blair was almost always in her underwear, while Tobi and (surprisingly) Freya walked around naked a lot. Blair had to admit, she enjoyed staring at Tobi's package. The guy was 'fucking hung' as she bragged to some of the ladies in her clubs, classes, and at work.

Anyway, Blair was pretty much the chef of the household, making gourmet meals for her two roommates. They rarely ever ordered take-out, since Blair could even cook Chinese food. They occasionally talked about taking a cooking shift, but Blair insisted she needed the practice for her major, and that cooking was how she blew off steam. Freya fixed anything around the apartment, and Tobi they often consulted for medical advice. A cook, doctor, and mechanic all living in an apartment. Blair often joked they should get their own sitcom.

When it was time for dinner, Blair threw off her apron and gathered her roommates to the table. Freya was naked, but Tobi, much to the ginger's disappointment, was wearing a pair of blue briefs. The guy's state of dress, whether nothing or very little, depended entirely on his mood, while Freya was pretty much always naked, and Blair only got out of her undies to sleep or bathe.

"So, what happened at work, my little freshly-picked ginger?" Tobi asked, twirling some lo mein on his fork while staring at his roommate with his chin resting on his palm. She swore, he was more feminine than Blair herself, and maybe a bit more than even Freya. Hell, maybe more effeminate then his two female roommates combined.

"Ugh. I got fired from Shooters." Blair grumbled.

"Awww... I'm so sorry, Blair. I know you liked it there." Freya consoled.

"Correction. I liked dancing nearly-naked and stripping almost naked in a controlled environment. I fucking hated it there. The guys were perverted jerkoffs." Freya winced at Blair's swearing, but then again, the girl always did.

"Now you'll need to find a new job then, huh, honey bun?" Tobi sighed.

"Well, a guy offered me a new one as soon as I walked out. Nude model for his art class."

Freya perked at that. "Really? Professor Lance Bascom offered you to nude model? Do you have any idea how awesome that is, Blair? I've been trying to ask him to let me nude model for his class my entire stay at this school, but he kept telling me he already had a curvy, buxom model! You have to say yes! It'd be a dream come true!"

"Yeah, for you." Blair accused through a mouth full of lo mein. "You'll find any excuse to get naked in public, Frey, ya goddamn exhibitionist. I'm not getting fucking naked in a classroom full of horny artists."

"But Reddy, sweetie-pie, you got naked at the strip club for even hornier men."

"That was different. I never went past underwear-level when stripping. This time I'd be completely naked with a bunch of artistic weirdos studying my every inch, drawing my naked body for who knows who else to see and- Frey, Christ! If you're gonna do that, go to your room or the bathroom! We talked about this! You can get naked in front of us, but no schlicking! Especially when you're fantasizing yourself in my hypothetical situation! God, what the fuck is wrong with you? How can a girl so shy be such a fucking pervert?"

Tobi just giggled in that way only flaming fruitcakes can. Again, Blair used that term lovingly. After dinner, they played some Super Smash Brothers, watched some Fairy Tail, and went to bed, Blair gazing at the card for the art professor. Should she say yes? It seemed like next to no work for a shit-ton of money, and a bonus on her tuition. Hmmm...

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Blair arrived at the art classroom the next day, Monday, finding the class preparing for the day.

"Ah, you're here, Miss O'Hanrahan. Great! Are you ready?"

"Ugh. Ready as I'll ever be."

"Okay! The curtain is over there if you want to-"

Blair slipped off her jacket and kicked off her shoes, revealing she was naked under it.

"Uhhh... Miss O'Hanrahan, we had a sheet you could change behind and a box you could put your clothes in."

"Christ, why didn't ya tell me that? I just came here with the January goddamn breeze shooting up my cunt for no fucking reason!"

Several of the students winced at the ginger's language, others giggled or snickered.

"Al right, Miss O'Hanrahan, I'm sorry." the professor consoled. "Here's how it's going to work. I'll give you a pose to take on the pedestal in the center of the room, and you'll hold it while the students draw you. You'll be holding it for an hour, then we'll take a fifteen-minute break, then come back to it for the rest of the second hour. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Great! Let's begin."

To the girl's dismay, it was a rather open pose that left her 32D's, crotch, and ass completely exposed to the students gathered at the easels in a circle around her. Ugh, she couldn't believe she was doing this. All their eyes, gazing at her every curve hungrily. The guy directly in front of her was getting quite the eyeful. She swore he was studying her more than he was actually sketching. He was cute, though... Actually, really cute. Tight white T-shirt, blue skinny jeans. Both showed off his muscled legs and upper body. Was that a six pack? Damn! And... Wow. Judging from the bulge in his pants, he was pretty turned on right now, and even bigger than Tobi. Did she really do that to him, just by standing here completely naked? Uh oh... Looked like he wasn't the only one turned on now. She felt an anatomical reaction, a shiver running up her spine.

"Okay, break! You can feel free to head to the vending machines and sofas just down the hall if you want."

Cringing, Blair hopped off the pedestal and was about to exit the room, but the professor called out to her.

"Don't you want to wear a robe?"

The ginger looked down at herself. Oops...

**XXXXXXXXXX**

On Wednesday, Blair took a pose where she laid on her side, one arm on her hip and the other supporting her head, one leg crossed over the other. It was a pretty pin-uppy pose, if you asked her. Again, she was facing directly at Mr. Tall, Dark, and Well-Hung. Shit, he had even deeper pools for eyes than Tobi. Why was she so attracted to dark eyes? Sheesh!

When it was time for a break, she donned her robe and made her way down the hall, but someone accompanied her.

"Hi!"

She turned to see it was Mr. Dark Pools. "Sup?" she asked.

"Need me to buy you a coffee?"

"Depends. What's it to you?"

"I'm drawing you naked, Blair. I at least owe you a coffee."

"Surprisingly chivalrous of ya, buddy. All right, let's do it." So, he got her a coffee. She took a sip, studying the flavors.

"Black? Just the way I like it? How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess." He chuckled. Wow. Nice smile.

His name was Devon, and he was a fine arts major specializing in sketching, hoping to go into police sketch artist work. His minor was in health fitness, just so he could stay in shape, which explained his incredibly toned body. During the chat, Blair noticed her robe had parted and he had an open view of her crotch, but... honestly, she didn't do anything about it, and he certainly didn't seem to mind.

On Friday, the pose was her sitting down in a pretzel position, giving yet another view of her crotch, with Devon on a beeline in front of her. He kept making faces at her, trying to get her to laugh. It was tough, but she managed to keep a straight face.

As Blair walked out to sit in the small lounge, she made her way through the brief space of hallway still completely naked. Devon again followed her.

"So, I gotta say, you're really nice, Blair."

"Nice? Ha! You obviously don't know me, Dev."

"I don't mean nice, nice. You're strong-willed. I like that."

"Really? First time I heard that."

"Would you like to maybe hang out tomorrow? Saturday, so no classes. I know a great Italian restaurant just off campus, then we can see that DBZ movie that's in theaters right now, and then maybe I can take you to my dorm room so we can do a private drawing session."

"DBZ movie? How the fuck did you know I liked anime?"

He smiled again. Gawd, that smile. "Lucky guess again."

"Tell you what then, Devon. Tomorrow, we go see that movie, then I take you to my student apartment and cook you dinner, then you can draw me, got it?"

"Cook me dinner? You don't wanna eat out? I'm paying."

"Guess I didn't tell ya, but I'm a culinary arts major, Dev. Prepare to have your taste buds fucking explode, bro." She grinned ear-to-ear. "Hang on... Are you asking me out?"

Devon smiled again. Shit, why did this guy have to be so charming? "Isn't it obvious?"

"You've seen me naked already. Why the fuck would you ask me out?"

"Because you're my type, of course."

"You like short, pudgy gingers with anger management issues?"

"No, I like petite, curvy redheads with serious spunk."

"Christ, I think I love you, ya bastard."

He just smiled.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

It was as Blair was heading back to her apartment after the art session, another hundred dollars in her coat pocket, that she smelled smoke. And she knew what smoke smelled like from her failed cooking projects. Where was it coming from?

Oh, shit! That building was on fire!

"Help! Help!"

It looked condemned... Was someone actually inside it? Ugh. Must've been a homeless druggie freebasing and lit the place ablaze. Dammit... She didn't know why she was about to do this... Meh. She'd blame it on too much anime, video games, and both her parents being military heroes.

Throwing off her coat and shoes, again revealing nothing underneath, so they wouldn't catch fire, Blair ran up the nearby fire escape and burst through a broken window. Sure enough, the place was flaming, and not like Tobi (again, that came from a place of love). The ginger pushed her way through the flames and old, burning furniture, her arm to her mouth to block the noxious fumes.

"Hello?!" she called into the fire.

"Hello?" a voice replied.

"Where are you?" Blair called out.

"I'm in the bedroom! Please help!"

Running into what she assumed was the bedroom, Blair found a figure huddled up under a blanket on the bed.

"Hey! You okay, lady?" Blair called out.

"Please help! Get me out of here!" a voice called from the bundled-up figure on the bed.

"Don't worry lady, I'll get you out, promise."

Blair reached for the filthy brown blanket, pulling it aside to reveal...

The figure was just a bleached skeleton.

"What the fuck?!" she cried.

The girl turned around to run from the room, but the ceiling came crashing down on her. In excruciating pain, Blair surmised that several of her bones had been crushed under the mass of ceiling. If the flames didn't get her, she was sure she would die from carbon monoxide poisoning. As her vision began to blur, she looked into the doorway to the room, swearing she saw a figure standing there, cloaked in shadow. Ugh... Was this the end for Blair O'Hanrahan, ginger chef extraordinaire?

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Next thing Blair knew, she was floating through a black abyss. The flames licking at her skin and the pressure of the building materials was mysteriously gone, replaced with a cold, lonely emptiness.

Was this death? If so... It was awfully dark and depressing. Where was heaven? Hell, she'd welcome even hell at this point. Anything but this nothingness...

At first she was floating, and had lost track of time while doing so, but... Then she felt a falling sensation. She seemed to be falling deeper into the darkness, and the descent was picking up speed rapidly. When she was sure she'd get torn apart from how fast she was falling, the darkness gave way to clear skies and the feeling like she'd been pushed through a cheese grater, accompanied by a burning sensation in every bone in her body.

But... she kept falling. The ginger let out a loud, shrill scream, only to fall into what felt like an incredibly muscled pair of arms. She looked up into a pair of brown eyes and a head of bright blue hair. Her gaze followed the trail of his thick neck downward to see an incredibly muscled upper body dressed in an orange jumpsuit.

"Toriko-san! Who's that?"

"I have no clue, Komatsu. Did you fall from a plane?" Mr. Muscles asked.

Blair looked around to find she was in some kind of swamp forest, and a short, petite person with black hair and a wide nose was standing nearby dressed in what looked like wilderness exploration clothes. Upon looking down at herself, she saw she was still stark naked, and in the arms of a man princess-style, though no burns or broken bones.

Wait... still naked?!

She promptly threw her arms over her breasts and pussy and screamed bloody murder. What the ever-loving fuck was going on here?


	2. Meal 1: Never Smile at a Crocodile

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Toriko. Toriko belongs to a mangaka of ambiguous sexuality and Shounen Jump.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Toriko

Primary Colors

By_ Cyberweasel89_

**Meal 1: **Never Smile at a Crocodile

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Hey, quiet down! Are you okay?" the big, muscled guy with blue hair asked her.

"Toriko-san, she's completely naked! Close your eyes, and I'll get something for her to wear from my backpack." the much smaller person exclaimed in alarm.

Blair pouted. Ugh. What the hell was going on? Where was she? Why was this guy's hair blue, like Tobi's? He didn't look like the type to dye his hair. And why was he so muscled? Was he a bodybuilder? He was tall, too... Blair was a munchkin herself, but she was quite high off the ground in this guy's arms.

"Put me the fuck down, big guy. I can stand on my own."

Shrugging, Big Guy did so, though Blair found she could barely stand, stumbling only for Big Guy to catch her.

"Don't touch me, ya fucking bastard. I'm naked!"

He did so without a word. Ugh, it felt like she weighed a thousand pounds. Her bones in particular felt like she could hardly move them, like they were resisting her brain's commands. They hurt, too. Could bones even hurt? Christ!

"Here you go! Turn around, Toriko-san, so she can change."

"You turn around, too!"

"What? But-"

"I said turn around, Little Guy!"

"Komatsu."

"Turn around, Little Komatsu Guy!"

Sighing, he did so. Ugh, he was so reluctant. Probably wanted to see her naked, the pervert. She got dressed in a beige button shirt with two breast pockets and matching pants, as well as some boots, just like what Komatsu was wearing. Seemed he'd packed a spare outfit for whatever reason.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Gourmet Hunters? Gourmet Age? The fuck you talkin' 'bout, Big Guy?"

"Toriko."

"Big Toriko Guy, then." That sounded Japanese...

"And I'm Komatsu!" Another Japanese name...

"Ugh. Blair. But you're sure this is Earth?"

"Only Earth we know." Toriko shrugged. "In fact, I'm a Gourmet Hunter on a job right now. Komatsu is my client, looking for an ingredient for her boss. She's the head chef at the Hotel Gourmet."

She? Blair hadn't noticed earlier, herself. Despite the wide, flat nose, the short black hair underneath a pith-like helmet, and the compact figure... Komatsu was, in fact, a girl. She could tell by his, er... her facial structure. Her eyes in particular. Made her feel bad about forcing her to turn around while she got dressed. And come to think of it, from her anime knowledge, most any name with a 'ko' in the front or back was a girl's name in Japan, just like any name ending in 'maru,' as commonly found in Naruto, was a boy's name. Though... didn't that mean Big Guy had a girl's name as well? Not like she was gonna mention that to a guy that huge. She valued her life more than her curiosity. He could probably snap her in two like a praying mantis. Bad metaphor considering he was male and she was female, but entomology wasn't her major. It was culinary arts.

"You're a chef, Komatsu?"

"Yes, though I'm not very good..."

"I was studying to be a chef at a college in New York!"

"Really? I bet you could teach me a lot, Blair-san!"

"I was thinking the same thing about you, Komatsu!"

Toriko crossed his arms, a confused expression on his face. "New York? I've been all over, but I've never heard of that place. Is it a city or a country? And is it affiliated with the IGO?"

Blair's jaw dropped. "How could you have never heard of New York City?"

"I've never heard of it either, Blair-san." Komatsu sighed.

"It's a city in a state of the same name."

They both sported confused expressions.

"In the US." Still confused. "You know, the country of the United States of America?" Still confused. "In the continent North America?"

"Must be somewhere in the Gourmet World. Not a place I've heard of, so that might explain it." Toriko mused. Komatsu nodded her agreement.

"Gourmet World?"

"You don't know? This is only the Human World. The Gourmet World comprises the rest of the planet."

Blair's jaw dropped. Wait... Toriko... that sounded familiar... Wasn't that...

No... No. No way. No fucking way. Was she... was she actually... in an anime world? Fuck. Fuckin' fuck. Fuckin' fuckin' fuck! If she was gonna get sent to an anime world, why couldn't it have been one she knew aaaaaaallll about, like Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, or Fairy Tail? Hell, she'd even settle for Attack on Titan despite the post-apocalyptic, grim and bleak nature of that world. Or maybe Homestuck without an apocalypse, or even the World of Remnant from RWBY, or the Avatar: The Last Airbender and Avatar: Legend of Korra world! Why Toriko of all worlds? That anime was so low on her 'to watch' list, especially when she'd heard about all the incoherent changes and pointless censorship done to the anime production by Japan itself. Guess that meant... Assuming she was spending a long time here, she'd have next to no actual knowledge of this world. For now, she was playing dumb.

"Oh, sorry, I... guess I hit my head at some point. I've never heard of New York, either. To be honest, I don't remember anything much about where I am, or the world I live in." Blair explained, putting on her best 'dumb girl' voice and tone.

"Oh, that's horrible! I'm so sorry, Blair-san! Don't worry, Toriko-san and I will explain as much as we can."

"Yeah, but mostly after the job. They'll be plenty of time on the way back." Toriko insisted.

"Where are we, anyway?" Blair asked. It looked like a swamp of some kind...

"Baron Archipelago. Island chain swamp. We're hunting the Galalagator."

"Ga-what-what-gator?"

"Basically an enormous, dangerous, but extremely tasty crocodile." Komatsu explained. "Not even an IGO tank can take it down. It's Capture Level 5!"

Blair was intelligent enough. She could infer that the IGO was some military organization of some sort, and it seemed animals were given rankings to show how dangerous they were. To capture, presumably. By... Gourmet Hunters. Wow, this world was weird. From what she'd heard from Anime Club at her college, everyone in this world was a freakin' foodie. She had a lot to learn, but it'd be different this time. She wasn't watching or reading it. She was experiencing it. It could be a dream, but it was awfully vivid to be one. And considering Blair, like her two roommates, was a lucid dreamer, her attempts to control the dreamscape weren't working right now. So yeah, definitely not a dream. Christ!

"Wait! Stay still, Komatsu, Blair."

Blair was about to complain to Toriko that she really could barely move as it was, but when she turned to follow the big guy's gaze, there was a fucking saber tooth tiger standing there, snarling!

-Baron Tiger. Mammal. Capture level three.-

The fuck? What was that voice? It sounded... Male. Kind of hoarse and scratchy, like the stuff of nightmares. Is that... what this big saber tooth tiger thing was? A Baron Tiger? Blair looked to Toriko, who was making a face that could also be considered the stuff of nightmares. She jumped at the sight of it.

"You wanna see who's bite is stronger, little cat?" he growled at the thing, which promptly scurried off with its tail between its legs.

Komatsu was readying her rifle when she chanced a glance over at the chef. "Alright, aim...!" but stopped when she saw the Baron Tiger wasn't there. "What happened?" she asked.

"Toriko scared the thing off! It was kinda badass!" Blair exclaimed, causing Komatsu's eyes to widen. Shit, why did this chick have to have prettier eyes than her? Completely black, like the dark pools she loved eyes to look like.

"Did you really, Toriko-sa-"

"Something is wrong, after all..." the big guy mused, not looking at either of them. "Baron Tigers are beasts that live deep in the marshland. The Friday Monkeys that were at the rock bed were the same... They're known for their cowardice. They even hide in caves all their life, so why would they go to the very entrance of the archipelago?" he turned to eye Komatsu and Blair with a sideways glance. "It's plausible only if they were driven out of their habitat... by an overwhelmingly strong predator!"

Komatsu's eyes widened. And if Blair actually had to go at the time, she might've shit or pissed her pants. Fuck, Toriko must've took place in a dangerous world. If only she'd taken martial arts or something!

Komatsu swallowed hard. "Um... Toriko-san?"

"Yeah?" Toriko asked, turning more to face the chef.

"The predator is... probably the Galalagator..."

Toriko returned to giving his sideways glance, a deadly serious expression on his face. "Tell me more..."

"A Director of the IGO... Asked us to find the Galalagator. He explained that this Galalagator might be over three hundred years old... Which means-"

"It's over Capture Level Five, right?" Komatsu nodded. "Whoa... That's a pretty interesting piece of info." Toriko mused.

"It's not interesting at all!" Komatsu exclaimed in a shrill shriek.

Toriko turned to face Komatsu, a small smile on his face. "How does it taste? A Galalagator that's lived over three hundred years... The taste of the ripe meats should be excellent."

"I wanna devour it..."

Both Toriko and Komatsu turned to where the sound of that voice came from. Blair was staring up at the sky, a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth. "I wanna eat it all up... The three hundred year old gator..." Blair mused as if in a daydream.

Toriko chuckled, while Komatsu leaned in to whisper to him. "Looks like she loves food just as much as yo, Toriko-san..."

-Somewhere out in the world...- Shit! The voice again! -There exist foods so delicious, you can't even blink your eyes... The smell of it... will make you unable to breathe... You'll notice... that you can't stop yourself from salivating... And when you eat it... your whole body will cry as if you were born again.-

The fuck? Where was that voice coming from?

Toriko grabbed his bag and got up to continue, while Komatsu helped Blair up and gave her a shoulder to walk, though kept her other hand on her rifle.

"Toriko-san! Blair-san must still be woozy from her fall! Carry her, please!" Komatsu yelled.

"Ugh... Fine..." Blair was about to protest, but soon a huge arm scooped the ginger up and placed her on a strong shoulder. She pouted, but couldn't cross her arms, since they were having trouble responding to her brain's signals. Well, not really... Her muscles were flexing from her thoughts, but it was like another part of her arms was protesting. Damn, she hurt...

-And so the luxurious journey of Toriko, Komatsu, and you, Blair... In search of the best food ingredients had begun... First of all to slay the Galalagator...-

Seriously, where the fuckin' fuck was that damn voice coming from? It was really creeping her out, especially considering how it sounded.

"By the way, Komatsu..." Toriko began. "From here on out there won't be anything you can kill with a shotgun." he explained rather nonchalantly.

"Are you serious?!" the tiny chef exclaimed, her jaw dropping.

-What will happen beyond? With the unstoppable craving for food, the great adventure rolls on!-

Who the fuck is saying all this?

-Wouldn't you like to know? Kekekekeke!-

Blair swallowed hard at the ominous nature of that statement. Did it just... respond to her?

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Blair spent the next half an hour listening to Toriko explain things about this world, such as his dream of developing a Full Course Menu, a series of eight dishes that comprise a complete dinner, and is a testament to the Gourmet Hunter, or even Chef's, skill. Toriko stressed to Blair that even Chefs, not just Gourmet Hunters, could have their own Full Course Menu. According to Toriko, if Blair was serious about being a chef, she should consider making one of her own. Blair had only just began to ponder this idea when the far-off voice of Komatsu spoke from behind the two.

"Hey... Hey, Toriko-san, Blair-san! Can you wait a sec? Can we walk more carefully? Nyaaa!"

Nya? Like a Japanese cat? Though it sounded more like a cry of fright or distress... Toriko turned around to see Komatsu faced with some kind of frog-like thing.

-Serpent Frog. Amphibian. Capture Level one.-

That freaky voice again. It wasn't just hearing the voice in her head that made it creepy. It was how it sounded. A voice you might find from some kind of hobbled-over leper, or something. Toriko ran up and plucked the thing from the bush, revealing that, true to its name, it was a serpent with a frog-like head.

"Disappointing... Don't get all worked up over a mere Serpent Frog." Toriko scolded, though not seriously.

"S-Sorry... This is my first time seeing a live Serpent Frog, though I've taken care of them in the kitchen..." Komatsu explained.

"People actually eat this thing?" Blair asked in disbelief from Toriko's shoulder, still feeling too heavy and in too much pain to engage in heavy bodily movement.

"You bet, Blair! The liver of the serpent frog is considered a real delicacy!"

She'd consider eating a crocodile to be weird... But hearing Toriko describe it as the top gator meat in the world and the flavor of this super-old one in particular just made her drool, so she wasn't one to criticize about eating lizards.

"Gyaa! Something is sticking to my hand! What the heck is this, Toriko-san!" Komatsu exclaimed. It seemed some kind of huge-ass leech was sticking to her hand. Her dainty, yet dexterous hand, perfecting for chopping up vegetables. Dammit, despite the wide nose and compact figure, it was the little things that made Blair think this girl was prettier than her.

-Baron Leech. Insect. Capture Level less than one.-

Less than one? Was that an actual Capture Level for animals in this world? No answer from the voice, so it seemed he was being coy about that. Creepy prick.

"It's a leech. It's just sucking your blood, so just leave it be." Toriko casually explained.

"I can't! It's disgusting!" Komatsu exclaimed, reaching for it. Wow, what a prissy little girl.

"Hey, if you try to take it off, your wound will just get bigger. Just wait."

Toriko walked over to one of the nearest trees and picked some leaves from it, then returned to Komatsu, who had frozen mid-grab upon hearing the Gourmet Hunter's words.

"What is that?" she asked.

"The leaves of Mangroves... Remember those at the entrance? Let me see your hands." Toriko explained.

Toriko held his handful of leaves just over where the leech was attached to Komatsu's own hand and began squeezing them very hard. Eventually a tiny droplet of water dripped from Toriko's grip, landing on the leech and causing it to tremble and detach from the Chef's hand, falling to the ground.

"Oh, it got off! Why, though?" Komatsu wondered.

"Leeches hate it when you put salt on them." Toriko explained.

"Eh... S-Salt, huh?" Komatsu replied.

"Salt? But you put water on it! Not just water, but a drop of leaf water! What the fuck, Toriko?"

Komatsu cringed at Blair's language, but she was used to that from her roommate Freya. Toriko just smiled.

"Mangroves store sea water in their leaves by sucking up the water underneath the Baron Archipelago through their roots. That's why their leaves are so salty that even insects don't eat them." the Gourmet Hunter explained.

"So that's why the leech seemed so surprised..." Komatsu mused.

"But depending on the species some leaves are edible so study those." Toriko continued.

Komatsu produced a notepad and pencil from her pocket, scribbling on it. "Let's take some notes."

Toriko continued onward, but paused. "Chef Komatsu!"

Blair's jaw dropped open. She had followed Toriko's gaze upward to see a huge horde of beasts flying in the sky above the trees. But... none of them were birds at all! Some seemed saurian, some amphibian, and a great deal seemed insectoid!

"So many beast birds!" Komatsu said, trembling at the sight of them, many of which were bigger than all three of them put together.

"The Baron Archipelago is know for the gargantuan beast birds. We can't get near here with helicopters since those birds control the sky."

"So that's why we came by boat..." Komatsu mused.

"Bird beasts? But none of those even have fathers!" Blair complained.

Toriko just laughed. "It's just an expression, Blair. That's all. Anyway, it's almost dusk. Let's stop here for today."

"We aren't going into the marsh area?" Komatsu asked.

"Galalagators are nocturnal. It's better to hunt it when it's sluggish around noon. We'll go into the marsh tomorrow." the Gourmet Hunter explained.

Oh, good. Ugh, Blair couldn't wait to change and sleep. Maybe then she'd be able to move around more easily. Plus, even though Komatsu was only an inch taller than Blair, the chest of this shirt was rather tight on her, as was the rear. She couldn't wait to get out of these clothes.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Unfortunately, Toriko had not packed a tent, nor even sleeping bags, nor had Komatsu. So she couldn't exactly disrobe with Mister Tall, Muscled, and Blue-Haired here. Toriko did, however, build a campfire, and cooked the Serpent Frog for dinner. The ginger was slightly hesitant to eat it, but after just one bite, found it was pretty good. Better than most things she'd eaten in the real world, actually, despite having been cooked over a campfire.

"Hmmm... This is tasty! Serpent Frog isn't bad at all!" Toriko and Blair found themselves both saying at the same time, causing them both to look at each other, Toriko laughing, Blair blushing.

"You two must really love food." Komatsu mused, rubbing at the back of her hand.

"Of course! I'm known as the Glutton of the Heavenly Kings, Komatsu!"

"Hey, I'm known as Blair the Glutton back in the real-er, back home! I can put away more than my body can seemingly hold!"

"Didn't you have amnesia, Blair?" Komatsu questioned.

Blair swallowed her mouthful of amphibian, raising her arm up to rub the back of her head, which was much easier to do now that she had eaten. "I remember a few scattered glimpses here and there, and I guess I'm remembering more as I walk around with you two." she lied.

"I've got wine, too. Want some?" Toriko asked Blair and Komatsu, dismissing the current conversation.

"Fuck yeah! Hit me, sky-head!" Blair exclaimed. She also had quite a high tolerance for alcohol, as was well-known from the many drinking contests she'd had with guys at bars. Made more friends in those contests than she'd ever met in anime clubs. Toriko promptly rummaged in his bag for his wine, but Komatsu uneasily gazed at the back of her dainty hand.

"Ah, hmmm... Putting that aside, Toriko-san, the bleeding hasn't stopped since then, from where that leech bit me..."

"Leeches give out a substance called hirudin when they suck blood. It's a chemical that prevents blood from clotting. it'll stop sometime soon." Toriko explained. Blair was pretty sure she'd learned something like that in a biology class in high school at some point.

"When is that going to happen?" Komatsu asked nervously. "And why are those... things..."

Komatsu was gazing at the animals that were surrounding their campsite. Blair admitted, many of them she'd never seen or heard of back in the real world, and some of them, particularly the ones with large fangs, claws, or talons, were making her a bit uneasy.

"They're probably hungry, so they're aiming for our leftovers." Toriko explained as he took a bite from his Serpent Frog. "There's a food shortage on this island full of provisions. Galalagators are omnivores and heavy eaters. If the IGO's data is correct, then we can assume the state of this island is unmistakably caused by the three hundred year old Galalagator. It's not just in Baron Bog, either. The possibility of it ravaging everything on the islands isn't that low, either." Toriko paused to take a swig from his bottle of wine, then tossed it to Blair so she could drink some, herself. "It means that two hundred thousand species of animals are facing a crisis."

Komatsu sported a look of horror. "No... Wait a sec. Galalagators are also adapted to ocean water..." She jumped up in alarm. "If there's no more food on these islands then it might go to the ocean!"

"Shush. Be quiet." Toriko urged with a finger to his mouth, while Blair switched her gaze from the Chef to the Gourmet Hunter as she chugged the bottle. Damn, this shit was good. High alcohol content, too!

"Is something wrong?" Komatsu asked.

The animals surrounding their campsite raised their heads in alert, then abruptly scattered off in every landward direction. Immediately following was some bubbling in the nearby water, an eel soon emerging from it.

"Whoa!" Komatsu screamed, while Blair dropped the now-empty wine bottle as she froze.

"Hmm? What is this again?" Toriko wondered, oddly calm.

"It's a Swamp Snake, Toriko-san!" The chef exclaimed. "Capture Level five! It's said even a Galalagator can't beat it if it's in the swamp! It's quite formidable!"

"You said Swamp Snake? No way." Toriko responded, but then his eyes narrowed. "Huh?"

The Swamp Snake seemed to freeze for a second, sway back and forth, then fall dead on the shore. And it was then Blair noticed that a massive chunk was missing from its side... An oddly bite mark shaped chunk.

"Eh? It's dead?" Komatsu asked.

"How? What is this wound?" Toriko wondered, walking closer. "In one bite... It died just from that. Rather than the power of the jaw, the size of the bite is even more astonishing!" Toriko stepped closer, seeming to notice something else with an "Oh."

Blair jumped when she heard a impact-like boom from the shore. She pointed, breathing inward sharply to scream at what she saw, but her breath only caught in her throat. Her sharp intake of air, however, caused Komatsu to turn to look at her, then follow her gaze and freeze in horror.

"The reason that Swamp Snakes are level five is of course its strength, but... The difficulty of locating it counts for the most part..." Toriko continued to muse, not removing his gaze from the Swamp Snake.

"T... Tori... Ko... San..." Komatsu stammered.

"It's the smell of blood..." Toriko continued. "The moment we entered the islands..." He turned to look at Komatsu. "We've been set as targets, isn't that so... Galalagator." Blair realized he wasn't turning to look at Komatsu, but the giant crocodile that had just emerged from the water of the swamp.

-Galalagator. Age three hundred. Reptile. Estimated Capture Difficulty... Level eight.-

It was huge! It was like a regular alligator or crocodile, but it had red skin of rough scales, yellow spines and claws, eight legs, green eyes that seemed to glow in the dark, and sharp, white teeth that protruded out of its mouth!

"Get back, Komatsu, Blair." Toriko advised the Chef, cracking his knuckles.

Komatsu seemed frozen in fear, but eventually turned around to face Toriko, a horrified expression on her face. After another moment's pause, she ran off to hide behind a tree near their campsite, while Blair just watched Toriko in awe.

"I'm excited. How long as it been... since I've seen prey that dares to fight me." Toriko mused, staring the alligator down. No... it wasn't an alligator anymore. It was a dinosaur!

The Galalagator charged Toriko, who sidestepped out of the way to avoid its gnashing jaws. As the giant alligator went rushing by, Toriko landed a series of three punches against its upper jaw, neck, and side, only to have a gator tail slam into him. Blair's breath caught in her throat as the Gourmet Hunter went flying from the blow, but he managed to grip onto the tail in midair, lifting up the eight-legged lizard and sending it flying onto its side.

The ginger looked to Komatsu to see her staring bug-eyed in shock at the sight, and even Blair herself had to admit, she was surprised, herself. Despite how muscled the blue-haired glutton was, even she didn't think he had the strength to lift such a massive lizard.

"Hmm?" Toriko mused, gazing down at a quartet of leeches feeding from his arm. He turned to where the two girls sat and stood.

"Hey, Komatsu!"

"Y-Yes! I... I see two dinosaurs!"

"Ah?" Blair had to agree with Toriko. What the fuck was the Chef talking about? "Did your bleeding stop? Look at where the leech bit!" Toriko continued.

"Huh... blood? Ah... no. There's still a little..." Komatsu looked at the back of her right hand, eyes bugging out and jaw dropping in alarm. "Hey, wait, there's another one stuck!" Sure enough, there was another huge-ass leech stuck to her hand.

"I just recalled that this is a Baron Leech! The parasitic leech! They live on larger organisms and are parasitic! If you got your blood sucked by this then then you won't stop bleeding for half a day! The large lizards known as Komodo dragons are known for having sixty species of bacteria in their mouths' saliva. So even if it doesn't give a fatal injury to its prey, the lizard will wait until the prey is weakened by the bacteria, then finish it off. The Galalagator is keeping an enormous amount of Baron Leeches in its mouth! It spread those leeches and uses its sense of smell to find prey that has had their blood sucked!"

Blair looked over and sure enough, quite a huge number of leeches were in the Galalagator's open mouth, the gator itself righting itself back onto its feet from Toriko's throw.

"Ehh! That means I'm already the gator's target?!" Komatsu exclaimed.

"So the Swamp Snake was found that way too..." Toriko mused. "Which means... I guess it wouldn't be good if the battle took too long." Toriko continued, reaching for a leech and effortlessly plucking it off and tossing it aside. "Komatsu! Is it okay if I don't capture it alive?"

"Huh? What? Capture it... alive?" Komatsu asked, perplexed.

"Is beating the heck out of it all right?" Toriko clarified, a truly evil grin on his face.

"S... Sure... Take your time..." Komatsu replied meekly, her face paling.

-That day for the first time...-

That voice again...

-Toriko entered battle mode.-

But this time... Blair was sure she could see some sort of red ogre-like thing appearing above Toriko.

-In that instant...-

No, wait... not an ogre... an oni!

-All the living things on the island left their homes...-

And it was scaring the shit out of her!

-And fled...-

Damn voice!

-The thing that stopped the Galalagator from doing so... was not the pride as the king of the islands... But the ignorance of not knowing life-threatening danger in three hundred years...-

"Hey you, Galalagator..." Toriko asked, a very fang-filed smile appearing on his face that gave Blair the willies. "To those hard scales, to those sturdy teeth... to those sharp claws, to the probably three ton strength of your jaws... and to the age and size fit for the king of the Baron Archipelago... I will pay my respects... And show you the..."

For a split second... Blair was sure she could see the giant Galalagator sitting on an even bigger plate, with a massive red oni looming over it with a giant fork and knife in its hands.

"The weapons... of humans!"

Blair looked over at Komatsu... To see a distinct wet stain appearing on her pants. Had the Chef just seen what the ginger herself had just seen?

Toriko raised his hands up, smacking his hands together like getting dust or dirt off them, but instead making the sound of two metal tools scraping against each other. Metal tools almost like...

As the Galalagator charged the Gourmet Hunter, he brought his hands together as if in prayer.

"I give my thanks..."

The Galalagator's feet left the ground as it lunged.

"To all the food in this world..." Toriko's eyes opened from his seeming prayer. "I shall have the treat..."

He brought his arms down, putting his left hand in the shape of a claw, and Blair was convinced she saw the image of a fork.

"Fork!" the blue-haired glutton screamed, bringing his clawed hand to the Galalagator's neck, his fingers stabbing right through its hard scales and even lifting it up off the ground! Blair's jaw dropped. Toriko raised his right hand next, holding it in a karate chop position, and Blair was sure she saw a dining knife's visage appear!

"Knife!" he screamed, bringing it down on the dinosaur's neck... and to Blair's utter shock and awe... he cut its head clean off with his bare hand.

Toriko spread his arms wide, sending the head and body flying in opposite directions. The Gourmet Hunter quickly brought his hands together, again smacking his hands back and forth to produce the sound of a fork and knife clacking together, then brought his hands into a praying position. As both halves of the giant alligator landed behind Toriko, he closed his eyes and spoke.

"Thanks for the meal..." he said quietly.

Blair, her mouth still hanging wide open, turned to see Komatsu on the ground, having fallen to her ass, her own mouth wide open and tears even in her eyes.

Some kind of god-like apparition... It definitely looked like an oni. Or, if her browsing of Wikipedia articles on Japanese mythical creatures were worth anything, possibly a hanya of some sort. It appeared briefly, but now Toriko's face was entirely different.

"Komatsu! Blair!"

Toriko turned to face them, a big smile on his face with a hint of drool at what was about to come. "Mission accomplished! Come, let's eat!"

It had become a dazzling smile, like gold. Blair felt her heart speed up. Was it relief that she was safe and the largest predator on this entire island chain was dead? Or was it because she had caught a glimpse of the true form of possibly the manliest man she had ever seen in her life, and fictional anime super powers made non-fictional before her very eyes? His fingers punctured that giant alligator's scales like a fucking Rokushiki Shigan from One Piece, done with more than one finger! Christ!

-Gourmet Hunters... They are hunters who prey upon unknown ingredients in search of undiscovered tastes. Now, there are about three hundred thousand kinds of food ingredients known in the Human World, but people say two percent of those were all discovered by... Toriko. Known as the gluttonous Gourmet Hunter, he is widely known for his immense appetite, but also... his charisma. He is known as the charisma of the Gourmet Era.-

Who the fuck are you, Blair wondered.

-I'm what's left. Or maybe... I'm all there ever really was.-

I meant your name, Blair replied in her head.

-My name is of no importance. But let's just say... We'll be meeting very soon... Blair O'Hanrahan. Kekekekekeke!-

God you're creepy, Blair grumbled to the voice.

-Oh, I am indeed quite creepy, Blair. Especially when you figure out what I look like. Kekekekekeke!-

Judging from your voice, you look creepy as fucking hell, Blair answered mentally.

-We'll meet, Blair. In time. For now, just know... I've got my eye on you... Even though I don't have any eyes. Kekekekekeke!-

Ugh! You're more of a creeper than Edward Cullen, Blair growled to the voice.

-Why, thank you, Blair! I consider that quite the compliment. As you might say in your world, I'm doing it right. In that case, that 'it' is being a creeper. Kekekekekeke!-

Fuck you, you fucking creep-job, Blair sighed.

-Challenge accepted! Just give me a call, pretty girl. Kekekekekeke!-

Blair didn't dignify the voice with a mental response. Instead she just felt a chill run up her back.

"Why are you crying over there, Komatsu?" she heard Toriko ask. Sure enough, the Chef, who's helmet had fallen off to reveal a head of black hair tied into a long, low-set braided pigtail on the back of her head, had tears streaming down her face. It... was actually rather beautiful to watch. Damn, why did this girl have to be so fucking pretty? Well... Looks like Blair was about to taste the unknown and most spectacular taste of all time.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Ahhh... Is it really okay?" Komatsu asked.

"What is?" Toriko asked in return.

"I mean... to eat the request meat right here..." the Chef explained.

"It's alight." Toriko stressed. "No matter what, we won't be able to carry all this back. See, it's done!"

They had several huge chunks of the giant Galalagator's meat skewered on a wooden branch and hanging over their campfire. Toriko, using his fucking bare hand, cut a slab from one, holding it up to gaze upon it.

"Look... The frost-like fat is shining..."

"It's like a meat made of jewels." Blair mused, gazing upon the slice in the Gourmet Hunter's hand, drooling even more than he was.

Toriko promptly placed the entire slab of gator meat in his mouth, chewing on it a bit before swallowing. The Gourmet Hunter's eyes widened, clenching his fists in the air and shouting to the sky.

"Mmmmmm, so gooood!"

"Eh... Is it that good?" Komatsu asked.

"Let me see!" Blair exclaimed, grabbing a chunk for herself and taking a big bite of it.

Blair had heard that regular alligator tasted like chicken, but this...

The ginger chewed, tears in her eyes. "It's like high-quality sirloin steak! The fat is sweet, and the savory flow of flavor releases from it with each bite I take!" She swallowed, feeling the warm, tender, savory meat flowing down her throat with even more juices. "I've never tasted anything like this back home... It's better than anything I could ever imagine!" Blair sobbed. Was this what all food in this world was like? If so, she didn't think she could go back to the real world, even if she wanted! Nothing she ate there ever again would be this good, leaving her forever unsatisfied with any meal she ever ate!

Komatsu was next, trying a much smaller piece than Toriko and Blair tried, but even her eyes widened. "Sooo tasty!" she exclaimed.

"I know, right?" Blair replied, not even looking at the Chef due to the constant tears streaming down her face.

"Let's roast some more!" Komatsu insisted.

"Yeah, let's do this fast!" Toriko replied excitedly.

"Anyway, Toriko-san..." Komatsu began as she gathered more to roast.

"Hmm?" the Gourmet Hunter responded through a mouthful of Galalagator.

"I... I've got a request for you."

"Not doing it."

"Not... doing it? I haven't said anything yet."

"What is it?"

"If you are going for something like this again... Can I go with you?"

"Luck only exists for a short time. Seize the opportunity when it presents itself to you, and you're lucky."

"Yes... but after that I'm unlucky, right?... Right?"

"Nope. Let it pass you by, and your luck has run out."

"Can I come, too?" Blair asked after swallowing another mouthful of beyond-delicious gator meat. "I don't know anything else in this worl-, I mean, because of my amnesia, and you two are my only friends right now."

Wait, did she seriously say they were her only friends? Christ, that was so corny! Why did that come out of her mouth? Was it this damn gator meat?

"Of course! You can even stay at my house, Blair!" Toriko assured the ginger, making her cringe. She took another bite of Galalagator, and all negative feelings washed away.

Hmm... If food in this foodie-populated world was this good... And she wanted to further her passion from the real world of becoming a world class chef... and chefs were that important here... and a Full Course Menu was a testament to a chef in this world's skill... Then maybe... Just maybe... Blair would...

**XXXXXXXXXX**

It was morning when Blair opened her eyes. She found herself laying on her back, a bulging belly keeping her pinned to the dirt ground of the island swamp. She lifted her arm, finding it even easier to move than it was back in the real world, and her hunger was truly satisfied for the first time in her life. All the pain in her joints she'd had since arriving in the Toriko world was gone, too. This... This was true bliss.

"Eh? What is this?! I... I can't believe you two ate the entire Galalagator!" she heard Komatsu scream.

Blair turned to see that, indeed, nothing was left of the giant alligator except its bones, which were completely picked clean. Well... So much for the three hundred year old Galalagator being on her Full Course Menu.

"Idiot..." she heard Toriko say, looking over to see him with an even bigger belly than her. "There's still more. Look!" He held up a small object.

"That's just a leech from its mouth!" Komatsu exclaimed, falling to her hands and knees and her eyes bulging.

"Isn't this enough?" the Gourmet Hunter asked.

"No, it isn't! Ugh, what should I say to the manager, and the IGO Director! Not good, am I gonna get fired?"

"Tell IGO that... It tasted really fantastic!" Toriko said with a big smile.

"What good is it to tell them that?" Komatsu responded.

-The world is filled with a lot more tasty foods.-

"But it needs one more step to become one of the dishes on my Full Course Menu."

"And you still say it's not good enough!" Komatsu exclaimed, leaning on her side on the ground between Toriko and Blair.

-Toriko's Full Course Menu will be completed someday!-

Shut up, you creep-ass, Blair growled to the voice in her head.

-Not a chance, my little jar of ginger. Kekekekeke!-

Ugh. Fuckin' christ.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Author's Notes

It's true. Both Komatsu and Toriko have girls' names. That's why I didn't change Komatsu's name, despite the popular "Kimiko" for his other gender-swaps. Toriko itself can mean "prisoner," "bird child," or even a cross between "bird" and "cat (neko)", but it's always a girl's name. The Japanese language lacks gender-specific names (and pronouns) in general, but "ko" and "maru" suffixes and prefixes are a notable exception. And if you ask me, Naruto has waaaay too many characters with names ending in "maru," which you'll notice are all male. The Gourmet Knights themselves are all male and all with names ending in "maru." That's why, when I made a female Gourmet Knight OC for an RP, I gave her the name "Komaru." Slightly oxymoronic, but it's the closest I can get to a "maru" suffixed name being for a girl. The only exception to to a "ko" ending name being for a girl is if the name ends in "hiko," then it's a boys' name. That's why Haruhi in the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya genderswaps is sometimes given the name "Haruhiko" instead.


	3. Meal 2: Taste the Rainbow

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Toriko. Toriko belongs to a mangaka of ambiguous sexuality and Shounen Jump.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Toriko

Primary Colors

By Cyberweasel89

**Meal 2: **Taste the Rainbow

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The sound of a cicada chirping roused Blair from her slumber. She awoke with a yawn, smacking her lips and lowering a hand to scratch her ass. Getting up, and still very much half asleep, the pint-sized ginger stumbled through the halls of the unfamiliar house to make her way to the bathroom. Sleeping naked made it much easier to use the bathroom in the morning. Just get up, and a short walk later you could relieve your bladder. It was one of the benefits of your roommates composing of a girl with bigger tits than you and a guy so gay you could smell oranges when he talked. Taking a seat on the toilet, Blair sighed and began emptying her bladder.

"Morning, Blair. Can you believe it's already the season for chocolate-eating cicadas to chirp?"

Blair only moaned in response to the deep male voice, her eyes only half-open. Wait... deep male voice? Tobi's voice was quite flamboyant and light, considering he was a flaming fruit. The ginger turned to look to her side, seeing a very muscular blue-haired man sitting in the bath tub next to her. At first the sight of the man only barely registered with the half-asleep, still-peeing girl. It took several moments before her last bubble of sleep hanging over her head burst, and her eyes widened.

The scream was deafening.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

God, that was embarrassing. But wow, she couldn't believe Toriko lived in a candy house. It was like shit from a fairy tale. And now she was eating a breakfast made from the very candy the house was made of, including milk from a fruit in a mug of chocolate bark.

"Ugh. Can't believe that happened. Got any coffee?" Blair asked. Like most college students, she pretty much ran on what was essentially heavily caffeinated dirty water. Which, by that very definition, made decaf dirty water and nothing more.

"Nah, but the sugar should energize you enough." Toriko informed the girl, reading a newspaper at the table.

Blair grumbled about that, taking a sip of her milk and returning to her plate of various chocolates, candies, and sweets. On a plate that, itself, was also made of chocolate. Christ, she would OD on sugar living with Mr. Tall, Muscled, and Blue-Haired.

"Let's see, today's Gourmet Menu... What? Succeeded in selective breeding of Galalagators? Those bastards from the IGO! Why did they even ask me to hunt one, then!"

Blair only giggled at that.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Toriko grabbed his backpack and left for the day, Blair herself following. They had managed to stop by the Toriko Harbor the other day and picked up some clothes in Blair's size. Currently, she was wearing a pair of blue denim shorts and a cleavage-baring red tank top with spaghetti straps and some black sandals. No underwear, though. Honestly, Blair rarely wore the stuff. Her long red hair was left hanging and flowing. Blair didn't really like to tie it much. Felt it was too girly. She was dressed lightly, because, well... It was summer, after all, despite the fact that it had been the middle of winter back in the real world when she was sent here. Blair realized as she followed after the giant Gourmet Hunter that he was dressed similarly: Orange shorts, sleeveless white shirt, and sandals, just in more masculine styles. Didn't bother her much. She was never much of a fashionista. Not like Tobi, the fruitcake... It should go without saying by now that Blair's jabbing of her roommate's sexuality were out of affection. She loved the bastard, even if she couldn't fuck him.

Toriko eventually led her to a cliff overlooking a forest far below. Scooping Blair up and placing her on his shoulder, which the ginger provided little resistance due to being used to it from the swamp, he jumped off the cliff, the Blair clinging onto his head and screaming for dear life into his ear. Was this guy fucking insane?!

What she considered her bodyguard in this world dropped from branch to branch before actually landing on one, turning to gaze at a cave in the side of the cliff with some bones outside of it. Toriko jumped to the ledge outside the cave, setting Blair down. Without a word, he walked into the cave, cracking his knuckles.

"Well, well. Are you there? Sharke-kun?"

Blair peered into the cave, seeing a pair of glowing eyes and a mouth of sharp teeth dripping with drool gazing at her from the darkness of the cave. Cringing, Blair ran and cowered just beside the cave entrance, hearing the distinct sounds of a heavy beating just within.

The Gourmet Hunter soon emerged with, with... A dragon! Holy shit! A goddamn fucking dragon!

"Ha ha ha, I caught a big one! This probably weighs around one point five tons, huh!" Toriko chuckled to himself as he carried the dead dragon thing over his shoulders.

-Sharkenodon. Winged dragon beast. Capture Level four.-

Holy shit! What kind of world was this, where it had actual dragons!

"You're actually going to eat that, Toriko?" Blair asked, jaw dropping.

The Gourmet Hunter glanced over at the ginger, grinning. "Not at all! We're heading to the market to sell it!"

"S... Seriously?"

"You bet! Today the market... will be eventful!"

Blair just shook her head and chuckled.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

-Central Gourmet Wholesale Market. All kinds of gourmet ingredients from all over the world are gathered here, commonly known as the World Kitchen. The total area is three thousand hectares, and the amount of food that arrives here each day is over nine hundred thousand tons. It is even said that one trillion yen are transacted here in this monster market.-

Ugh, shut the fuck up, ya damn voice, Blair thought in her head.

-Hey, I'm giving you valuable information, Blair. You should be grateful. Kekekekeke!-

The ginger decided not to dignify that with a response.

Blair was sticking close to Toriko as they walked through the World Kitchen, the big guy carrying his fucking dragon. She overheard in the distance a voice say "Eh? Toriko-san is coming?" It sounded like Komatsu!

"Oh, you called me?" Toriko responded, evidently hearing the girl's voice as well.

Komatsu turned around, eyes bugging at the sight of the Gourmet Hunter. "Waaaa, he's there!"

Blair noticed Komatsu was dressed more casually this time. She was wearing a white button blouse and a pink knee-length skirt with some high-heeled boots that matched the skirt. Her hair was also up in a summertime pony tail using a white ribbon tied in a bow. Ugh, you'd never catch Blair in a fucking skirt, or ribbons. Komatsu must've been awfully feminine. Still, the ginger was surprised by how pretty this girl was, despite the flat chest and wide nose.

"It's Toriko!" a voice in the crowd called. "Hey, Toriko is here!" "What, the real deal?"

Huh. Toriko must be pretty famous, Blair mused.

"Wow, that's a Sharkenodon!" a familiar voice called out. "It's gotta weigh more than a ton, doesn't it?"

That was Tom. Blair met him on the way back from the Baron Archipelago. The man with the sunglasses, dark skin, scar over one side of his face, and hat that said "GOURMET" was a warehouse worker in the World Kitchen who Toriko often exclusively sold his captures to so the man could sell them. He also owned both a boat and a helicopter that he could captain and pilot, and as a close friend of Toriko's, he often took him to places for hunts. Blair found him rather attractive, and also surprisingly gentlemanly and funny, but he apparently had a wife who was quite scary when mad.

"Forty grand a kilo, how's that, Tom? I've done Knocking already."

-Knocking is the usage of a stick of needles and other tools to sting the nerve that controls movement in the cerebellum to paralyze a beast. This way the creature can be shipped out alive. However, to master this skill, abundant amounts of knowledge and experience is required, and it is possible to acquire a patent for the Knocking points of a specific creature. It is said there are many retired Gourmet Hunters who live off selling these patents.-

"Make it thirty grand per kilo. I've got a lot of poor retail customers." Tom haggled.

"Great, can you sell some to our hotel, Tom?" Komatsu excitedly asked.

"Oh, sure." Tom agreed.

"That will be a problem..." a man nearby Komatsu stated. He was dressed in a black suit, red tie and a pair of sunglasses that he was even pushing up his nose as he spoke, with short black hair and slightly tanned skin. He reminded Blair of the Men in Black, or a government agent, or something. "If you don't follow the market price stated by the IGO, the price of food will be altered."

"Say that to Toriko, the provider." Tom countered. "If you dare to, that is."

"That's impossible." the man replied.

"Oooo!" Blair heard a girl squeal. "That's a Sharkenodon, a winged dragon beast, Capture Level four! And what's more... That's the charismatic Gourmet Hunter, Toriko!" It seemed it was a girl with straight, collarbone-length brown hair, brown eyes, light skin, and dressed in a rather business-like pink blouse, with a white under-blouse, pink skirt, and matching red high-heels. Blair had to admit, Komatsu was pretty... But Tina was really, really pretty. She was also holding a microphone, and some sort of round, pale yellow bird was hovering just next to her head. "What a full helping of scrumptious news!" Okay, so she must have been some kind of news reporter, or something? The lady ran up to Toriko, holding her microphone up. "You're Toriko, right? I'm Tina!"

"Huh?" the 'charismatic Gourmet Hunter' said, turning to face her.

The aforementioned pale yellow bird flew up next, yelling "Kupo, kupo!" Blair couldn't help but be reminded of Moogles from Final Fantasy and Kingdom hearts. Tina gestured to the bird.

"This is my carrier balloon pigeon, Kruppoh!"

"Kupo!" the apparent pigeon chirped in response.

"To be able to meet you, my luck today must be super-sized! No, super-duper-sized!" Blair cringed at the food puns. She hated puns... Mostly due to bad 4Kids dubs. Thank god that company went under due to a Yu-Gi-Oh lawsuit and the world of anime was now forever free of them. "I'm a Gourmet Newscaster! I introduce all kinds of ingredients around the world to people on Gourmet TV!"

It was then that Blair noticed a man standing right behind Tina, holding a camera on his shoulder. He was a bit more tanned than Tina, at least a bit, with shaggy black hair that completely hid his eyes, and dressed in a simple white T-shirt, blue jeans, white sneakers, and an ID tag hanging from his neck on a string.

"Who's that?" Blair asked Tina, pointing to him. Tina whirled around, jumping as if forgetting he was there, and even the young man himself seemed surprised anyone was noticing him.

"Oh. That's my AD, Minokyuu."

"AD?" Blair questioned.

"He's my assistant and crew, I guess you could say. You know, cameraman, gaffer, wardrobe and make up artist, gets me coffee, things like that." Blair briefly wondered if Minokyuu would get _her_ coffee, as well.

Minokyuu was about to say something, but Tina turned to Toriko and continued, cutting him off. "Please, Toriko! Let me do an interview for my program!"

"Any interviews must go through the proper channels." The man in black stated, getting between Tina along with two other men similarly dressed.

"What?" Tina exclaimed, jumping back at their sudden appearance.

"Kupo! Kupo!" the carrier balloon pigeon growled.

"The IGO!" Minokyuu exclaimed, camera aimed at them and everything.

"None other." the man in black stated, pushing his sunglasses up his nose. "I am Johannes, chief of Ingredients Development at IGO's Research Department."

"Back down, Tina." the AD gently urged the newscaster.

"Why?!" Tina growled at him, making the poor guy jump. Tina seemed very spunky. Blair could only guess how hard it must be to be so many roles for her, including cameraman, gaffer, make up artist, wardrobe, and general assistant. Especially since the newscaster seemed to barely notice the guy. In fact, if Blair were in his place, and male like him, she's be jizzing in every cup of coffee she brought the woman. Which... wouldn't be that hard to do regularly considering how beautiful she was.

...Did it say something about Blair that she'd be jizzing in Tina's coffee instead of just pissing in it? Well, at least both were better than putting Sweet'N Low in it. Even Blair wasn't that cruel or vengeful.

"They're the International Gourmet Organization, Tina-dono!" Minokyuu reminded her. He addressed her so formally, too. Dono? Really? Wasn't that Japanese honorific considered antiquated, or something? "Against them, you'll never get an interview!"

"Even though Toriko's right here?" Tina whined, turning away from Minokyuu and walking toward Toriko, only to be grabbed by the arms by two of Johannes's men, who began dragging her away. "Let go of me! Hey! Stop this! You plan on blocking my interview? Isn't the IGO supposed to be an open organization? This is tyranny! I have a duty to report on the news! Everyone is waiting for my reports! Let me interview Toriko! An exclusive interview!"

Minokyuu turned to Blair, Toriko, Komatsu, and Johannes.

"I'm very, terribly sorry, Toriko-dono, Komatsu-dono, Johannes-dono, Tom-dono..."

"Blair." she filled in the gap for him.

"Blair-dono." the AD finished, then turned to run off after Tina and Kruppoh.

"You don't have to be so..." Komatsu began to say to the IGO chief.

"Things might turn sour if the mass media starts asking questions." Johannes explained, turning to face the Chef. He turned to face Toriko next. "Toriko-san, I'm glad I ran into you. I heard the rumor that you finished off a Galalagator... As expected of the Four Kings. I truly wish that the other three would follow your example and contribute to the development of the Gourmet Era." Johannes explained.

"It's useless to expect that from them." Toriko stated, chuckling to himself. Blair decided she would have to ask Komatsu or Toriko about these 'Four Kings.'

"Putting that aside... We have a job request for you." Johannes continued.

"Huh? Why don't you just have some of the IGO's personal Gourmet Hunters do it? That's what you have them on staff for, isn't it? It's not like it has to be me." Toriko dismissed.

"The Rainbow Fruit are ripe."

"Did you say the Rainbow Fruit?!" Komatsu exclaimed. "The legendary fruit that changes its taste into seven flavors depending on humidity and temperature?!"

"Hey... You're too loud, Komatsu!" Johannes shouted back, pointing accusingly at the chef. It was the first time she'd seen the man lose his cool, though she'd only just met him.

"I've heard of it..." Tom began. "It's a fruit with such concentrated juice that just one drop of it can turn a twenty-five meter pool of water into a twenty-five meter pool of thick and luscious fruit juice."

"I've heard that the price of just one Rainbow Fruit is enough for a person to have fun their whole life." Komatsu elaborated.

"The rumor even said that it's already extinct in nature..." Tom continued.

"That's probably a hoax some gourmet dealers made up to increase the price of the Rainbow Fruit." Johannes explained. "A Rainbow Fruit tree produced fruit several days ago in IGO's garden. Of course, we cannot say it's natural."

"It's one of your special selective breeds, isn't it?" Toriko asked, smiling knowingly.

"The problem is that... Troll Kongs have made a nest around the Rainbow Fruit tree, and no one can get close to it." Johannes continued, ignoring Toriko's question.

"Troll Kong?" Blair questioned. She wasn't hearing that fucking voice explain it, so she'd have to ask.

Johannes turned to Blair. "Who is this, Toriko-san?"

"Just a friend of ours, Johannes-san." Komatsu explained. "She's a chef like me!"

Blair scratched the back of her head and chuckled nervously.

"Hm... Very well. Anyway, the Troll Kong is the strongest of gorillas." Johannes explained. "We mobilized a gourmet tank that cost two billion yen several days ago, but... It was easily flipped upside-down. And it's a forty-ton military tank."

Blair's eyes bulged in shock. This thing flipped an entire military tank on its own? Christ!

"The administrator division has declared it as Capture Level nine! It can probably even beat a Galalagator."

"D... Did you say Capture Level nine?" Tom asked.

"Aren't Troll Kongs... another selective breed?" Toriko asked, scratching his cheek with his finger. "What are you thinking, doing these weird experiments?" Blair was wondering the same thing, but it seemed Toriko's question was rhetorical, since he continued immediately. "Buy anyways, is there only one Troll Kong? They are known for forming groups."

"Let's take this request, Toriko-san! It's the Rainbow Fruit! I want to see it too... I'll go with you!" Komatsu exclaimed excitedly.

"I wanna come too, Toriko!" Blair insisted.

"You are really gonna die this time, Komatsu..." the charismatic Gourmet Hunter sighed.

"We can talk about the reward later." Johannes explained.

"Looks like that's the only way. Oh well, I do want to taste it..." Toriko mused, his hands on his hips. "Shall I come there then... To the nostalgic garden?"

Blair felt her heart speed up, though she wasn't sure if it was fear or excitement.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Mmmhoooo! Look at this, Komatsu, Blair! In exchange for getting him some of the Rainbow Fruit, Tom gave me one hundred kilograms of golden salmon roe!" Toriko chuckled, pulling a spoonful from a pot of the rare caviar. The Gourmet Hunter took a bite of the spoonful, and after chewing and swallowing, began slapping his knee

.

"Delicious! I can't take this crunchy aftertaste!"

"Hey, save some of that shit for me, Toriko!" Blair exclaimed.

They were in Johannes's limo as he drove them to the 8th Biotope, a governmental ingredient garden run by the IGO. Toriko responded to Blair's outcry by passing her her own spoon. Licking her lips excitedly, Blair scooched in close to the big guy, who moved the huge pot out from between his legs so the ginger could have access to it as well.

"Hey, Toriko-san... there's one thing I've been worrying about..." Komatsu began, looking rather worried. She was sitting with her legs tightly crossed and her hands clasped in her lap in a rather ladylike position. It kinda weirded Blair out, being around such a feminine girl. Even Freya at least had a wild side, with the blonde's borderline exhibitionistic nature. "Wouldn't the Troll Kong eat the Rainbow Fruit long before we got there?"

"Animals are instinctively attracted to the sweet smell of the Rainbow Fruit." Toriko explained through a mouthful of golden caviar. "Troll Kongs, however, are entirely carnivorous, so they're immune to it. They instead use the smell of the Rainbow Fruit to prey on the animals irresistibly drawn to the tree."

"So that's the reason they made the area around the tree their nest..." Komatsu mused. "But if these vicious gorillas made their nest there, wouldn't animals just begin avoiding it?"

"There's no end of animals that try to get close to the tree and its fruit." Johannes said from the front of the limo, where he was driving. "It's kind of like a reflex movement. When a foul ball hits the back net in baseball, the spectators will always try to dodge the ball. Even though they understand there's a net, they try to dodge the ball on reflex. The animals that smell the scent of the Rainbow Fruit will be totally controlled by the reflex of wanting to eat it. There are a lot of them that will even keep trying to get to and eat the fruit even when they themselves are being eaten."

"Wow, this must be some pretty powerful fruit, then." Blair mused.

"But you know, Chief... It's amazing how you're driving with that sort of posture." Komatsu pointed out.

Blair couldn't help giggling at that. She had to admit, Johannes was stiff as a board with his arms brought in close to his chest while he was driving.

"An attraction that would make one lose their sanity, huh... that's close to love." Toriko mused. "Hey, Komatsu. This time along with the will... Why don't you also write a love letter!" The Gourmet Hunter laughed at his own joke, and even Blair giggled at it.

"Hey, can you stop saying that, Toriko-san! What is that disgusting thought?" Komatsu exclaimed.

"We can see it now. The garden." Johannes called from the driver's seat.

Blair gazed out the window, her jaw dropping. It was a... a huge stone wall! Absolutely huge! Maybe taller than some of the skyscrapers in New York! It said IGO Biotope Garden No. 8, No Admittance above, around, and on the giant door. As the limo pulled up, Blair saw Toriko pull out a twig that he lit the end of by snapping his finger. Christ!

"The fuck did you just do?" Blair asked as they climbed out of the limo.

"Cigar Tree twig. Lit it with a spark from the friction of my fingers." Toriko explained.

"Okay, it's cool that you did that, but seriously, tobacco and nicotine are just disgusting." Blair grumbled. She wasn't going to say that she used to be a smoker, but quit for good when she decided she wanted to be a professional chef and didn't want to ruin her sense of taste.

"Technically, it's not tobacco or nicotine. It's more an herbal kind of thing, Blair." Toriko explained, puffing on his twig.

"Oh. Seriously? Mind if I take a hit?" Hey, don't judge her.

"Maybe later. This was my last one." Toriko told her. Ugh. Figures.

The group approached the much smaller gate to the side of the giant one, where two guards with rifles were stationed.

"Thank you for the meal, Toriko-sama!" one said, saluting.

"Thank you very much!" the other said, also saluting.

"Hey, stop using that greeting. I haven't even fed you guys." Toriko chuckled.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Unbeknownst to anyone nearby, a red scooter had been parked just behind a boulder near the entrance to the Biotope.

"This Gourmet Newscaster ain't afraid of the IGO, no way!"

If that didn't make it obvious who it was, well... Yeah.

Tina had, in fact, followed Toriko and company to the Eighth Biotope on her scooter, despite her AD's urges not to.

Said AD, Minokyuu, was currently watching her slip on her wilderness boots. Though... he'd been watching long before that. He'd been watching her change from her newscaster suit to her wilderness gear. Even worse, he'd been doing more than that. He's been filming her do it... and helping her do it.

Honestly? Being Tina's AD had its upsides and its downsides. Minokyuu was often treated like he didn't exist. The times Tina actually acknowledged his presence, she was making insane demands of him or assigning him to grunt work or menial labor. On the upside... you'd be surprised how often he got to see her naked. She was a solid DD-cup with a lower body to match her upper curves. Despite the poor treatment from his immediate superior, Tina was a very beautiful woman that Minokyuu couldn't help admiring the body of.

In truth, his name wasn't even really Minokyuu. It was Minoda Kyuutarou. It was just that Tina's lack of ability, or possibly lack of caring, to learn his name had caused her to combine the first syllable of his first and last name to Minokyuu.

Though, honestly? Despite being a very passive guy... He got back at her every day for the whole name thing and poor treatment. He really did cum in her coffee every morning. An easy task considering how often he saw such a beautiful woman naked, usually when helping her with her wardrobe and make up. Hee hee hee!

Besides, it's not like being Tina's AD didn't have a tangible reward. The pay was horrible, but he DID get something far better: Another role as the newscaster's AD was to edit any footage he caught for her. That included the times he recorded himself helping her change. Let's just say Minokyuu had quite a library back in his studio apartment. Heh heh!

Sighing, the AD helped Tina put on her last boot, his mouth in a small frown.

"The people of the world are waiting for a full helping of delicious news!" Tina continued her rant. Honestly, Minokyuu was never really sure if she was talking to herself or him, but he suspected the former. He'd since stopped responding to her tirades long ago. And you got used to the food puns. Honest!

Kruppoh hovered nearby. Tina actually treated that carrier balloon pigeon better than her own AD, but Minokyuu considered the inflatable bird to be his only friend.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Damn huge! Is this the entrance to the garden?" Komatsu exclaimed, her neck craned up at the giant wall. "Bi... Biotope... Garden... Biotope?"

"It's an artificially created habitat for plants and animals." Johannes explained. "We are letting the animals live freely in an environment close to nature."

"It means that the IGO is doing research on gourmet animals' behavior in there." Toriko added

"Oh... I get it now." Komatsu replied.

Back home, Blair knew PETA would have issue with that. But then again, those guys took everything way too seriously. They were against Mario's Tanooki suit because he was apparently 'wearing fur.' And they protested another game called 'Super Meat Boy' because the player played as a living hunk of meat. Then there was the time the president of the United States killed a fly on live TV, and they sent him a 'humane fly catcher.' Seriously.

"Can you open the gate for us?" Johannes asked the guards.

"The thing is... that..." the guard began.

A deafening booming sounded from just beyond the wall. It made Blair freeze in place. "Christ! What the fuck was that?" she exclaimed.

"Wha... What? Thunder?" Komatsu stammered.

"This... this sound is..." Johannes began, adjusting his sunglasses.

Toriko only removed his Cigar Twig from his mouth and exhaled some smoke. He was right. It didn't smell like tobacco at all.

"The watchtower from the research institute contacted us just ten minutes ago..." the guard on the left, the one with the scar on his face, began. "There's already a Troll Kong on the other side of the gate."

"So it's waiting there for us to go in!" Johannes exclaimed.

"Ehh? Are you serious?" Komatsu shrieked. "Can it be that the sound just now was... it knocking on the door from the inside?"

"No, that's probably not it." Johannes explained. "There's a deep moat on the other side of the gate. It should be impossible that it passed through there and-"

Another few thunderous bangs sounded right behind them. Blair froze in place, turning around only when it stopped to see Toriko's fist on his chest and smoke coming from it.

"The fuck?" Blair quirked an eyebrow.

"What the..." Komatsu trailed off. "Do... Don't scare me so much, Toriko-san! What was that just now?"

"It's drumming. Gorillas use it as intimidation." Toriko explained. "The sound earlier was caused by the Troll Kong hitting its chest multiple times." His gaze narrowed. "The king of the garden is warning me to not go in there."

"You... You mean the sound of drumming went through that damn thick concrete wall and reached us?" Komatsu gasped.

"That's... it. The drumming of a Troll Kong is an explosive sound that can be heard tens of kilometers away. Generally when animals hear the sound, they'll run away." Johannes confirmed.

"Doesn't matter. Open the gate." Toriko requested.

"Tha... That's not possible, Toriko-sama. There's the rule, so-" The guard began.

"What?" Toriko questioned.

"In the Eighth Biotope, when there's a beast with a Capture Level of five or higher within the five kilometer perimeter of the gate, we can't open it. We think there's no animals that can pass the moat, but just in case..."

Toriko pulled the twig from his mouth, exhaling smoke as he spoke with a mischievous smile on his face. "It's okay if they're not within a five kilometer perimeter, right? In other words, it would be okay if they're already gone when we open it."

Johannes, Komatsu, Blair, and the two guards only stared in silence.

"The gorilla's method of intimidation besides drumming is..." Toriko began, the Cigar Twin back in his mouth as he cracked his knuckles. "...the act of throwing something or breaking something nearby." The Gourmet Hunter walked up to the concrete wall to the left of the door, placing his palm on it as if testing it with his touch. "Then..." Removing his hand from the wall , Toriko lowered his arms and clenched his fists, flexing his muscles so hard that the strap on the satchel he was wearing broke. "Now it's my turn... To intimidate them!"

"To... Toriko? The fuck you-" Blair began.

"Get back..." Toriko stated calmly. All parties present took a full step back. "Three-Fold..." the Gourmet Hunter brought up his right fist, reeling it back. "Spiked Punch!"

With a mighty punch to the wall, Blair could swear she could see his arm vibrating to the point as if there were afterimages of his own arm all around it. A giant impact crater appeared in the wall from the source of the punch. "One!"

Blair's jaw dropped open, her eyes locked on the sight, though she heard Johannes and Komatsu freaking out.

"Two!" The crater got deeper! "Three!" And the crater got even deeper, blasting a hole clean through it! "It's open now." Toriko said with a smirk. He took a step in, grabbing his cigar twig from his mouth to exhale his smoke. "Excuse me." he remarked as he stepped through the rubble of the wall.

Toriko emerged on the other side of the wall, in front of the moat. Blair soon joined him. "That was fucking awesome! What the fuck was that?" Blair exclaimed in clear excitement. She'd experienced that shit many times in anime, manga, and video games, but actually seeing in in person was entirely different!

Toriko seemed to be sniffing at the air, but he paused to gaze down at the diminutive ginger.

"My Spiked Punch." Toriko explained, holding up his right first. "A punch where I hit the same place multiple times at once. Like driving in a spike, the destruction of this punch goes deep! And just like spiked punch at an office party, it leaves no one standing."

"That's fucking awesome! So, why're you sniffin' around?"

"It isn't here." Toriko mused.

"Huh?"

"But that doesn't mean it's fled..."

"The fuck you talkin' 'bout, Toriko?"

"I can smell the Troll Kong's faint odor... And there's no trace of skatole or fatty acids in its sweat. That means it wasn't scared after my intimidation."

"Oh... Well that fucking sucks."

Toriko smirked. "Anyone ever tell you you talk like a boy?"

Blair put her hands on her hips. "The fuck that supposed to mean? You got a problem with my language?"

"It's not just that, Blair. Yeah, you swear more than anyone I know, male or female, but it's also the way you talk. Your word choice. You even refer to yourself with male pronouns, you know. And not the polite one, either."

That gave Blair pause. What did he mean?

Wait... In Japanese, there weren't many gender-specific pronouns, but there was an exception in some cases when referring to oneself. It sounded to her like Toriko was speaking English, but... Was Blair, in fact, speaking Japanese to him instead? That meant, from what she'd learned about Japanese from footnotes in fan-translated manga... She was referring to herself by the self-pronoun typically used by males, 'boku.' But wait... Toriko just said she wasn't using the 'polite one.' Which meant... she was using 'ore' for herself? Wow. That was... kind of a mind blow to her. A bit of a shocking revelation, ya know? Christ! Who knew that, when speaking Japanese without knowing it, she'd be an even bigger tomboy that she was in the real world? Kinda funny when you thought about it.

"Anyway, the first drumming was to see my reaction. It's probably a low-ranked member of the pack that came scouting. But there's another smell along with the Troll Kong's smell. Almost a fish-like smell... Or maybe... reptiles..."

Komatsu just came out from the hole in the wall, Blair turning around to gaze at her. "What... What on Earth were you doing, Toriko-san? Why this sort of reckless way to enter..." she mused, working her way through the rubble.

Toriko, however, seemed to be gazing around wildly. Blair followed his gaze to see... Snakes! Fucking weird-ass snakes with three jaws in a circle! Christ! Blair promptly jumped and latched onto the much larger Gourmet Hunter's leg in fright. Toriko responded by grabbing Blair and throwing her behind him, right into Komatsu.

"Stay back, Komatsu, Blair! We're being attacked!"

"Ugh... You're heavy, Blair-san..." the girl groaned from underneath the ginger. Blair looked up to see the snakes bite Toriko at several points on his body.

"Toriko!" she called out to him in concern.

Despite the numerous snakes clinging to his body via their fangs, Toriko calmly placed the Cigar Twig in his mouth.

As Blair got up, Komatsu did as well, her jaw dropping at what she saw. "The... These snakes are... Their venom is incredibly poisonous!" the Chef stammered. Blair felt her heart catch in her throat. "The Zombie Taipans!"

"Yeah, I know." Toriko calmly stated. "Shut up and get as far away as possible."

Toriko seemed intent on puffing on his Cigar Twig, the end becoming distinctly burnt now. He puffed and puffed until only a bit was left, though Blair didn't see him exhale any of it, until eventually he ate the cigar! Soon after, smoke began coming from every part of Toriko's body. The Zombie Taipans each let go, letting out a screech of pain, dropping to the ground.

"Wow...!" Komatsu gasped.

"Holy shit!" Blair exclaimed

.

Toriko kneeled to the ground and began shooing the snakes off. "All right, you're good now. You were surprised when it suddenly threw you. Now, go back to your nests."

"But... They're said to never stop biting until the prey dies..." Komatsu said, a horrified expression on her face. "How could these hot-tempered Zombie Taipans so easily..."

"They dislike the smoke from the cigar tree. They can't stand its herbal smell." Toriko explained, still emitting smoke. "You can use it when you go camping as insect repellant because of its smell."

"Toriko-san!" Blair heard Johannes call from the hole in the wall. Toriko turned to look at him. "What on earth happened?! Are you all right?!"

"I'm good, don't worry." The Gourmet Hunter stated calmly. "Go wait in the research institute and get some gourmet tea. I'll go get the Rainbow Fruit soon enough."

"We... We wish you good luck."

"Toriko! Are you okay? Weren't those freaky snakes poisonous?" Blair called to Toriko as he walked over to a nearby wall and pulled down on a level there.

"Yes, if you don't inject a serum or antidote soon enough-"

"It's all right." Toriko calmly stated, giving the two girls a sideways glance. "I already have it."

"Eh?" "Huh?" Komatsu and Blair each said.

The lever lowered a draw bridge that unfolded from the wall and covered the length of the moat, landing with a thud.

"Now, let's go!" Toriko stated jovially as he walked across the bridge.

"Are... Are you really all right?" Komatsu called after him.

"Yeah, if you have the serum, shouldn't you inject it already?" Blair concurred.

"Hurry up if you wanna come, or I'll just leave you both there!" Toriko replied.

"Ye... Yes!" Komatsu said, rushing off after the huge Gourmet Hunter. Blair just sighed, smiling to herself and following after the two of them.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Blair noticed some thunder in the distance, and ran ahead to walk just behind Toriko.

"Please wait a second, Toriko-san, Blair-san!" Komatsu called from behind them.

"Hmmm... Looks like there's gonna be some rain." Toriko mused. Blair figured he could smell the moisture in the air like a frog, or something. "The tree of the Rainbow Fruit is pretty tall, so it'd be bad if lightning began to strike. We have to hurry, Komatsu."

"Hey, Toriko-san, Blair-san, look at these!" Komatsu called as she finally caught up. She seemed to be holding an armful of slabs of meat with stems on them. "I found bacon leaves! This is the first time I've seen them in the wild, ever! This a great!" she declared, clearly very excited.

Bacon leaves? Shit! This world must be fucking awesome!

Toriko took one and wrapped it around an odd-looking cucumber, taking a bite. "There were some banana cucumbers back there, did you see? It's such a delicacy if you wrap bacon leaves around it!"

"Shit, gimme some!" the ginger whined. Toriko tossed her a banana cucumber, and she took a bacon leaf from a shocked Komatsu, taking a bite. Shit, this was good! She didn't think she'd ever leave this world if food was always this good!

Toriko continued walking as he finished his bacon-wrapped cucumber, Blair and Komatsu following.

"Oh, right, Toriko-san!" Komatsu began. "Wouldn't the Rainbow Fruit go well with bacon leaves as well?" she asked.

"Oh? You do say chef-like things now and then, don't you? That does sound tasty." Toriko said with a smile, giving the Chef a sideways glance. He hopped down a slope, sliding down it, but when his sandaled foot reached the bottom, it dipped, a hole opening up. What the fuck?!

"A pitfall?" Blair gaped in disbelief.

"To... Toriko-san!" Komatsu called up. Blair looked up to see... Some kind of ugly, gorilla thing with a boulder in each of its four arms lunging down at them! It let out a gorilla-like roar, its mouth full of sharp teeth. Komatsu looked up at the sound of it, dropping her armful of bacon leaves.

In midair, the Troll Kong threw a boulder down at the pitfall with Toriko still in it, followed by the other three boulders.

Blair and Komatsu both stared up at the Troll Kong as it glared down at them. Komatsu was likely seeing her life flash before her eyes, but Blair was having a conversation instead.

-Well well, Blairy-kins. You seem in a pickle!-

No shit, Sherlock!

-Need my help?-

Help? How the fuck can you help? You're just a damn voice!

-Just give me the word, and I can help, Blair-Blair. Interested? Kekeke!-

Fuck no. I'd rather die that ask some creepy ass voice for help!

-Oh well. At least I offered, my little freshly-picked ginger. Kekeke!-

Just as the Troll Kong was about to strike, that same huge red oni-thing appeared behind the huge gorilla. Blair looked to see Toriko jump from the pit, wielding some kind of odd contraption with two spikes on the end. It reminded her of a stun gun, actually.

"Knocking!" Toriko called, jabbing the device into the beast's shoulder.

As the Gourmet Hunter jumped from the beast, it roared in pain, promptly spewing a horde of vomit onto Toriko. Ewwww!

"You bastard..." Toriko grumbled.

Toriko landed, the Troll Kong swinging at him with one of his four arms with a roar.

"To... Toriko-san?" Komatsu called to the Gourmet Hunter.

The beast roared in pain before falling on its side, seemingly unconscious. Komatsu jumped in fright, and even Blair took a few steps back.

"Don't worry. I did Knocking on it. It won't be able to move for a while." Toriko explained as he got up, covered in gorilla vomit.

"Toriko-san!" Komatsu called.

"That was fucking insane!" Blair concurred.

Toriko smelled his vomit-covered hand. "This stinks!" he cried. "That bastard, he puked on me." The Gourmet Hunter stood up.

"Knocking... You mean... Toriko-san... You only paralyzed him?" Komatsu asked in disbelief. "It... it'll start moving again soon, right?"

"Yeah. That's the type that will dissolve in half a day."

-Knocking Gun. A gun that shoots needles made of decomposing polymer. Depending on where the needle sticks, it could result in general anesthesia. There are various types and sizes. What Toriko used was the normal type, priced at one hundred and eighty-nine thousand yen.-

"It'll... start moving in half a day... is that really okay?"

"Yeah, why didn't ya kill the fuckin' thing, Toriko? It tried to kill us, and even up-chucked on ya."

"There's no meaning in killing it." Toriko explained. "Our objective is the Rainbow Fruit anyways. Let's go now, Komatsu, Blair!"

As Toriko began walking forward, waving his arm and complaining about it smelling so bad, Blair turned to Komatsu.

"The fuck? That Troll Kong threw poisonous snakes at Toriko, trapped him in a pitfall, ralphed on him, and tried to kill all three of us, and he just paralyzes it? The fuck is with this guy?"

"I wouldn't have put it so... coarsely, but I must say, I'm thinking the same thing, Blair-san." Komatsu sighed. The Chef turned to look at the Knocked Troll Kong, a shiver running up her spine before running off after Toriko. Blair paused to notice the rumbling of thunder in the sky, which was becoming covered in a layer of dark clouds, before following after her.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

The three made their way through a small canyon filled with bones.

"The Rainbow Fruit is near, you two!" Toriko announced.

"Ye... yes!"

"Fuck yeah!"

"I can sense the mellow smell!"

"We even finished off the Troll Kong-" Komatsu began.

"Though only with Knocking..." Blair grumbled.

"So we can take the fruit without worry, right?"

"That was the runt of the herd." Toriko explained. "That's the reason he puked on me."

"Eh?" The Chef paused at that.

"Herd? The fuck?"

"Troll Kongs are as smart as chimpanzees." Toriko continued, the trio approaching the end of the canyon. "It's within their intelligence to make pitfalls and throw snakes. But... They're truly frightening when they get serious!"

They reached the end of the canyon, both Toriko and Blair freezing at what they saw.

Just several feet in front of them were Troll Kongs as far as the eye could see. Komatsu looked sick, her face going pale, while Blair was fairly certain she might shit herself.

"The Rainbow Fruit is right in front of our eyes!" Sure enough, there was a leafy tree at the top of the hill beyond the Troll Kongs. "Now... Who's the head of this herd..."

"Toriko? You're going to fight them, right? Right?" Blair asked, swallowing hard.

"Komatsu! Oy, Komatsu!" Toriko called to the Chef, who looked up at the Gourmet Hunter and could barely speak. "If you get back alive, then take a week off from work. You probably won't be able to move an inch because of the muscular rheumatism! And hey, did you age a bit just now?"

"Toriko! This is no time for jokes! We're about to be torn apart by damn, dirty apes!" the ginger growled to the Gourmet Hunter.

The Troll Kongs roared, Toriko scooping both Komatsu and Blair onto his back.

"Komatsu, Blair! Hold onto me with all your might! If you let go for even a hundredth of a second, you're dead meat!"

"Oh, that's reassuring!" Blair quipped.

"Can we make it back alive?" the Chef cried.

"Who knows! Pray for it!" Toriko said with a smirk.

The nearest Troll Kong brought its fist down on them, but Toriko jumped to the side, narrowly dodging it.

"Watch out!" Komatsu cried.

Another Troll Kong leaped in from behind, bringing its two upper arms down for a blow with its hands clasped together in a big fist. Toriko jumped out of the way, landing in a crouch to avoid a side swipe from another Troll Kong, then leaped to avoid another downward strike from yet another gorilla.

-Against the fierce attacks of the Troll Kongs... Toriko's movement was truly gentle. And there was a reason to this. If he moved the way he usually did... Komatsu and Blair wouldn't be able to hold onto him for even a split second. Toriko looked back at the time when he had to carry the egg of the Silken Bird, which breaks as easily as soap bubbles, from a hoard of Hyena Gangs without a scratch.-

"Knocking!" Toriko roared, producing his Knocking Gun and stabbing the nearest Troll Kong. The nearest one came from behind while he did this, but Toriko back flipped over it, even shooting it in the shoulder with his Knocking Gun as he did so. The Gourmet Hunter landed on the ground as the two Troll Kongs collapsed, paralyzed, but Toriko himself seemed to be panting. He ejected a cartridge from his Knocking Gun, loading a fresh one into it.

"Are you panting, Toriko?" Blair asked from where she clung to the Gourmet Hunter's back for dear life.

"Having to... Carry both of you, and make sure you both are safe on different parts of my back... It's taking it's toll. You're heavier than you look, Blair."

Blair pouted angrily at that, but she had to admit, that was odd. She'd known Toriko to have super strength, and Blair herself barely weighed a hundred and twenty pounds.

"To... Hey, Toriko-san!" Komatsu began. "Why... did you only use Knocking? They're gonna wake up sooner or later."

"I second that question." Blair agreed.

"I said it before..." Toriko explained. "Our objective is to acquire the Rainbow Fruit. Besides, speaking from experience, Troll Kong meat is too muscly. Not something you wanna eat."

Blair slowly began to realize what was going on.

"I only kill what I've decided to eat. If I don't wanna eat it, then I won't kill it! And if I killed it, I'll eat it! That's my rule!"

Blair... suddenly felt an odd feeling well up in her chest. Was it... admiration?

But then... she felt a droplet of water fall on her. She looked up, seeing rain begin to rapidly fall and pick up. Soon it was quite a downpour.

"Ugh... Of all the times to be wearing a white cotton tank top with no bra..." Blair grumbled. She looked at Komatsu to see the Chef's own bra completely visible. Pink lace, it seemed, despite the lack of anything that needed a bra on the girl.

More Troll Kongs began rushing for the trio.

"Here they come, Toriko-san!"

"A herd of Troll Kongs is like a human society!" Toriko roared over the rain. "Unless we find the boss, they won't stop!"

"Will your Knocking needles last until then?" Blair asked in alarm.

Toriko didn't respond. Instead he weaved his way between an onslaught of four-armed gorilla punches, applying Knocking to three of the beasts with his Knocking Gun. Before any of them could even take a breath, four more descended upon them.

"Damn! There's no end to this!"

One of the Troll Kongs grabbed toriko by his right arm, the Gourmet Hunter gritting his teeth in pain. Those things probably had a grip of steel!

"This is self-protection... Don't think bad of me." Toriko said just as he dropped his Knocking gun and put his hand in the chop position for his Knife attack. "Kni-"

But just then, the Troll Kong released Toriko, dropping him to the ground.

The fuck was going on? Did... Did the thing feel threatened by the power in Toriko's arm? Or, wait... The rain! It was washing off the vomit of the weakest member of the herd, restoring Toriko's natural, intimidating scent!

"Good... Yes, this is great!" Toriko laughed, summoning the same visage of that red oni behind him as she felt an intense build up of energy inside his body.

Just then, lightning struck the ground right near them, making Blair jump in fright, but she still clung tightly to Toriko's back.

"Damn! That was close! It'd be the end if it had hit the Rainbow Fruit tree! We need to find the boss ASAP! Who was the one that was first scared by the lightning just now?"

"First? The fuck?"

"Toriko-san..." Komatsu began. "Wouldn't the leader be the least scared of the lightning?"

"No, just the opposite. A leader needs to be able to sense danger first and warn the rest of the herd. Intuition is an even greater trait for a boss than brute strength or blind courage any day. Not only for Troll Kongs, either. The ability to detect danger before anyone else is essential to becoming a boss! It even might be true for human society!" Toriko explained.

That gave Blair something to think about, but Komatsu seemed silent for a moment as well.

"To-Toriko-san..." She began. "Before the lightning struck... Theere was one that hid itself beforehand."

"What? Which one?" the Gourmet Hunter asked.

"Ah... In the back. That white one."

Blair followed where Komatsu pointed, and sure enough, in the far back on a high ledge was a Troll Kong with white fur, much longer than the other Troll Kongs.

"A Silverback... The oldest in the herd! Found ya! Shall we name it the Head Troll? Good job, Komatsu! Good job noticing it."

"Ah... No..."

Komatsu seemed oddly calm right now. How could she even survey the horizon when her eyes would normally be clenched shut in fear?

Though... Come to think of it... Blair herself was pretty calm right now. Even that lightning blast felt more like a large firework. Was it due to... Toriko's intimidation?

-The mouse riding on the back of the lion... Surely can survey all those around it without worry. The smell of the weakest stuck on Toriko's body... Was completely washed away by the rain.-

Toriko kept this intimidation up, Blair could feel it. She even could sense the massive red oni towering just behind the Gourmet Hunter as he casually strolled through the herd of Troll Kongs, which just gazed at him warily. He eventually cam to a halt right in front of the Silverback, which bared its sharp teeth and roared at the trio.

Blair looked up, and saw the giant red oni gently patting the Silverback on the head, with Toriko mimicking the motion.

As Blair listened closely... She coud only hear the sound of the rain. The battle had ended... that quietly.

And just like that, the rain slowed, and a ray of sunlight pierced through the black clouds. The sunbeam hit the very tree they stood before, with Blair taking a look at the Rainbow Fruit close up for the first time.

It... was beautiful! The sunlight hit the Rainbow Fruit growing from the top of the tree, casting a brillaint aura of seven colors glowing around each fruit! And they were huge! Each one was easily bigger than her! Toriko set the two of them down, with Blair stumbling at first, her knees feeling weak.

"To... Toriko-san..." Komatsu said in awe.

"Yeah... This is the Rainbow Fruit!"

"How beautiful!" Komatsu cried.

Blair whirled around when she heard footsteps. It was Tina, dressed in some sort of adventurer gear, and her AD Minokyuu, dressed... the same, really. Tina was walking up with her bird Kruppoh flying near her side, while Minokyuu was behind her with the camera.

"Hey, it's Tina! What are you doing here?!" Komatsu asked in alarm.

"And Minokyuu! Hi there!" Blair waved to the guy, who again seemed surprised that anyone was noticing him or acknowledging his existence, though it was hard to tell since his eyes were completely hidden by his shaggy black hair.

Tina jumped when Komatsu called to her. "Oops, I kinda tagged along..." she explained, waving her arms up and down.

Toriko hopped up onto one of the leaves, lifting one of the Rainbow Fruit in his hand.

"Oh?" the Gourmet Hunter looked down at where the Silverback and the rest of the Troll Kongs were gazing up at him. "Oh, don't worry! I'm only taking one!" he assured them. "I don't plan on endangering your way off life or throwing your ecosyster out of balance."

Tina turned to Minokyuu. Or, more specifically, his camera, holding up her microphone.

"E-Everyone! I've got a delicious scoop of news!" she announced, Kruppoh settling onto her shoulder. "The Gourmet Hunter Toriko has acquired a Rainbow Fruit!"

Just then, three man in blue bomb suits stepped between Tina and the camera, grabbing it from Minokyuu.

"I said, no interviews without permission." the voice of Johannes said from within one of the suits.

"You won't even let me have a single shot?" Tina whined, while Minokyuu just sighed.

"Eject them from the premises." Johannes commanded.

"Let me go!" Tina cried as two of Johannes's men grabbed her by the arms and carried her off. "Hey! The Rainbow Fruit! Toriko!"

Minokyuu sighed, turning to the group and bowing.

"Really, very sorry, Johannes-dono, Toriko-dono, Komatsu-dono, Blair-dono." he stated quietly before chasing off after the newscaster.

Blair couldn't help but smile. Poor guy...

**XXXXXXXXXX**

When they got back, the IGO reserved the top floor of the Hotel Gourmet for a huge meal for Toriko for capturing the Rainbow Fruit. Blair and Toriko were treated to an absolutely huge banquet table filled to the brim with the most delicious food ever. Toriko even combed his hair back and wore a white suit for the occasion. Komatsu helped Blair pick out what was essentially a little black dress for her. Or, rather... a little red dress. What could Blair say, red was her color.

Toriko and Blair ended up eating several tables worth of food. The two could evidently pack away just as much food as the other.

"Mmmmmmmm! Delicious! I havent had crab pork in a while." Toriko said as he took a bite from his plate.

"That's good to hear, sir..." A waiter told him. "This is roasted crab pork wrapped with mantle lettuce."

"This tastes good! Gimme more!" Toriko asked.

"Hurry and go get more!" the waiter whispered to some other waiters, just as two more were coming with carts full of food.

"Hot damn! Another Energy Hennessy over here!"

"My, you sure can hold your alcohol, ma'am." another waiter told the ginger. "You sure you haven't had enou-Erk!"

A hand squeezing his crotch silenced him. "I said more booze over here, ya five-star stud!"

"Some cognac over here for me." Toriko called to the same wiater. "Then I'll have some chaser and beer."

"Oh, and another albino Cinderella wellington over here, bro!" Blair added.

"Ce... Certainly, sir, ma'am." the waiter said, bowing.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Toriko leaned back in his chair, breathing out a sigh of relief. Blair, seated near him, slurped down the last of her bowl of oyster cheese pasta.

"That's it for today's menu, Toriko-sama, Blair-sama." one of the waiters stated uneasily, while the others whispered amongst themselves on how much food the two ate.

Toriko pulled out a branch of the Cigar Tree and lit it, with a lighter this time, as well as tossed Blair one along with the lighter.

"I'm about a tenth full, I guess." the Gourmet Hunter mused.

Blair had to admit, she'd just eaten way more than she'd ever eaten back in the real world, and she still wasn't completely full. One last cart emerged from the kitchen, Toriko glancing over.

"So... This is the dessert, huh?"

"Sorry for the wait, Toriko-sama, Blair-sama!" Komatsu said as she pushed the cart, dressed in her chef uniform. "This is the dessert! The Rainbow Fruit!"

Blair couldn't help but notice the chef was drooling. On the cart was a gelatin-like pudding that was rainbow-colored and glowing, along with a pairfait that was similar. Toriko shot up at the sight of it, as did Blair as well. The Gourmet Hunter began drooling, and the ginger had to admit, she couldn't stop salivating as well.

"I intentionally kept the pudding cold before serving so the juice would evaporate and form a rainbow above it. The parfait, too."

The pudding was placed before Toriko, while the parfait was placed before Blair. She gave the ice cream dish a whiff. Mmmm... it smelled so sweet. And it glowed like the seven colors of the rainbow. Blair turned to Toriko to see him scoop a spoonful out of his pudding, all the waiters and even Komatsu staring with drool dribbling down their chins.

Blair herself grabbed her own spoon, taking a spoonful of her parfait. It seemed Komatsu had outdone herself. The vanilla ice cream was perfectly marbled with Rainbow Fruit syrup and chunks. The mixture was soft like half-melted ice cream, yet it felt as heavy as gold. She placed the spoonful in her mouth, and before she could even remove it, her eyes shot open.

One! Two! Three! Four! She removed the spoon from her mouth, which was clean. Fuck, how is this even possible? It already changed flavor four times inside her damn mouth!

Fully ripe mango... Hundreds of them concentrated together in an overwhelming sweetness... And a sourness fucking incomparable to lemons or kiwi fruits popped up every so often as she kept the spoonful in her mouth!

...Five! Holy shit! The taste of roasted chestnuts!

Ahhh... Is the taste disappearing? Blair swallowed, only to find... S-Six...

Even when it passed down her throat, it was still fucking unbelievable...

She could feel the taste spread all throughout her body, even faster than it takes blood to achieve the same feat!

...S...Seven!

"So good..." Blair and Toriko both said at the same time, tears forming in both their eyes.

"The dessert... This is it!" Toriko sobbed. "The dessert of my Full Course Menu will be... Rainbow Fruit pudding!" The Gourmet Hunter reached up and wiped the tears from his eys. "Three years ago at that town... What the fortuneteller said was right..." He turned to Komatsu. "Komatsu! Gather all the staff! For the fact that I decided on the one dish of my Full Course Menu... Let's celebrate! I want you all to try this Rainbow Fruit pudding!"

"To... Toriko-san... Really?" Komatsu gaped.

"Of course! Food is always much tastier when shared with others! I want each of us to get at least one bite

"Of... Of course!" Komatsu agreed, overjoyed while the rest of the staff cheered.

Blair looked at her parfait, wiping tears from her eyes. Hmmm... Toriko may have been a glutton, but he wasn't greedy. She certainly wasn't sharing this parfait.

Though... Hmmm... Maybe... Just maybe... She'd decided, as well...

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Nine hundred kilometers East of Hotel gourmet...

The town of fortunetellers, Gourmet Fortune...

A very long line of people, primarily composed of women, waited outside a tower...

"Ho... How is it, Coco-sama?" A balding businessman with glasses asked from one side of a table.

"Darn... Give up..." the man on the other side of the table responded. Dressed in a black bodysuit with green cloth wrapped around his wrists, biceps, waist, shins, and a green cloth wrapped over the top of his head similar to a turban, he was tall, well-built, with black hair and black eyes. The most popular fortuneteller in Gourmet Fortune, for both his skill, accuracy, and good looks, had his right eblow on the table with his fist on his cheek, gazing at his left palm.

"Gi... Give up?! I've invested ten million in golden corn! You're saying the price won't go up?" the man cried in alarm.

"No, no, no, nothing like that. I was talking to myself." Coco assured the man, lightly moving his hands up and down to settle him.

"Eh?" the man asked.

Coco looked at his left palm again. "It says there will be a customer... A man with three scars under his left eye... I know him really well... Damn, what an ominous feeling..."

"But... Coco-sama, if you know this man so well, why such an ominous feeling?" the man asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"It's not the man I'm getting the feeling about... It's the person who's with him..." Coco explained.

"Eh?"

"According to this prediction... She'll be the first woman I'll ever love... But it won't end well." he sighed.

Coco... Fortuneteller and Gourmet Hunter...


End file.
